I can’t drive stick. I’m all right if there’s no one around me, but the second I’m at a stop sign and there are people behind me, I stall and can’t get the car to start again. So I’m feeling rather ashamed right now, because a group of dogs in New Zealand are doing what I can’t. These rescue dogs have been trained to drive cars. BBC News has the report.
The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in New Zealand capital Auckland were tired of families surrendering dogs and saying that the pooches were too hard to deal with. They wanted to do something drastic to prove to the public that rescue dogs can be loving, fun, and smart companions. So they decided to teach the dogs how to drive.
The training started indoors, of course. The chosen dogs were put through hours of repetitive training. They’re given a simple command to perform a task – push down on a button, pull on a stick – and rewarded for the behavior. After they’ve aced the indoors training, they’re put behind the wheel.
Don’t panic about dogs on the road: they started off driving in a big open field, before graduating to an empty track. But what they were able to do was still incredible. They’re set up, buckled in, and then given their commands: “A,” for accelerate, for example. With a trainer beside them, they’re able to drive along the track: shifting gears, breaking, and turning the steering wheel when necessary.
Of course, not any dog could drive the car. To start, it has to be one big enough to reach the pedals. It also has to be a breed with enough focus for performing tasks. But these dogs have still proven themselves, even driving live on television in front of their nation.
The SPCA is not trying to prove to people that dogs can drive our cars. They just want to get attention for their rescue animals, prove that they can be great companions, and boost adoptions. I just hope that any attention received by these dogs is from people serious about adding these dogs to their family, not people who were just amused by their exploits.
Perhaps what I said above isn’t entirely accurate: I could drive a stick shift car around a field with little problems. But it’s saying something that I can’t drive stick much better than these dogs can. These are wonderful doggies, and it’s a great way to call attention to what great, intelligent pets rescue dogs can be.
*(The above image by nechbi is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)