# Dogs driving cars. Is this real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-driving-cars-is-this-real/643642 "2012-12-10T21:40:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-driving-cars-is-this-real/643642/1 "2012-12-10T21:40:19Z")
I saw a clip from CBS news in New Zealand that showed dogs being trained to drive cars. It didn’t look like a hoax but it seems like a useless task to spend a couple of months working on. It seemed like a teaser for a magazine show and promised that we would see the final results soon. So is it real? Did they succeed? Should I add Skippy to my insurance policy? If I have too much at the local tavern, what’s the legality of calling Skippy for a ride home? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-driving-cars-is-this-real/643642/2 "2012-12-10T22:35:31Z")
It’s real. It was done because of the poor reputation of rescue dogs (dogs that have been abandoned and rescued, not dogs that work with emergency rescue squads or anything like that). A lot of folks think they are inferior or have behavior problems or that sort of thing when in reality most are not abandoned because they are troublesome dogs. They also have difficulty adopting out mixed breeds because people think pure breeds are somehow better. So they trained a few of these “worthless mutts” to drive a car to show that they were smart and trainable (i.e. good dogs to be adopted). The goal isn’t to sell magazines or anything like that. The goal is to increase the adoption rate out of animal shelters. Here’s an article about it. It includes a video showing how the dogs were trained. > **[New Zealand's 'driving dogs' pass their test](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-11/an-new-zealands-driving-dogs-pass-their-driving-test/4420446)** > > A pair of highly trained dogs from New Zealand have passed their doggie driving test, guiding a modified car along a race track on live television. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-driving-cars-is-this-real/643642/3 "2012-12-10T23:34:03Z")
First the Australian ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ video, and now this from NZ. Those people down there are becoming too clever. It’s like they’re almost human or something. It’s time we nuked 'em before it spreads into our hemisphere. It’s time to nip this in the bud before them penguins get to the North Pole and start eating Santa’s elves. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-driving-cars-is-this-real/643642/4 "2012-12-11T01:00:00Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > First the Australian ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ video, and now this from NZ. **Those people down there are becoming too clever.** It’s like they’re almost human or something. It’s time we nuked 'em before it spreads into our hemisphere. > > It’s time to nip this in the bud before them penguins get to the North Pole and start eating Santa’s elves. We always have been mate, just you blokes never realised it.😃