Dogs being trained to drive!

Here in New Zealand the SPCA (society for the prevention of cruelty to animals) have made headlines for trying to teach dogs to drive car like contraptions. Here is a link to an article talking about the training. If you scroll down you should also see a video with footage of the dogs learning to drive.

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/an...ng-trained-to-drive-cars-in-new-zealand-video

 

Oh no! Dogs will become as obese as their human owners.
I'll make sure I don't leave Mishka alone in the car.
Come on Mishka let's go for a walk. I don't want you getting any ideas.

 

I had watched about it on the local news few days ago.
It was really entertaining and amazing to see dogs driving and it was said that they are doing that to encourage more people adopt or have dogs.

 

Wow, neat to hear that this experiment has made the news internationally. I think it's a really great campaign as it can help change the way people look at dogs. I think that dogs are more intelligent than people suspect. Also if this experiment can help get dogs in shelters adopted, it can only be a good thing.

 

Yes tajnz, I saw that here in California - what a story! But I have to admit, I am not sure what purpose this could serve, & I also wonder if it's really a good idea. I mean, there are so many intangibles on the road, that it may end up killing people & the dogs. I used to drive trucks down into Los Angeles & even after a few years, there are always new & different situations drivers face.

That said, I have seen a few people that I am sure dogs would do better behind the wheel! I do agree that save dogs from shelters is a good thing.

 

I saw this the other day - it's incredible what they can be trained to do! I really hope it encourages more people to take in dogs from shelters (although hopefully not because they think the dog will drive them around!)

 

That is really cool. Granted, even though dogs would be trained to drive, I'd probably keep them on the side roads than on the freeways. It's going to be a really cool experience though when it ventures throughout the world than just New Zealand.

 

Lol, that's pushing it a bit far. We'll have robots driving those things before we do dogs.

I do think it's a potentially good idea for someone who isn't able to drive themselves a short distance. I can't imagine it ever being accepted on a real road somewhere, though.

 

I find it very hard to believe that it's possible to teach them to do this...but who knows, dogs really are amazing . I only know that it would be a disaster if my Homer was driving and noticed a cat on the street...

 

Yeah, I don't think they are trying to train dogs to be cab drivers or anything like that, it's just a marketing stunt to show people how clever rescue dogs are in order to find them loving homes.