# New Zealand Rescue Dogs Taught to Drive **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065 "2012-12-05T13:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/1 "2012-12-05T13:33:24Z")
Story and video [here](http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10851829). Looks like you _can_ teach an old dog new tricks after all, namely to drive a car. I looked this up after seeing it on BBC. Does New Zealand have a December Fool’s Day by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/2 "2012-12-05T13:49:03Z")
Which side of the road do they drive on? And what about traffic lights? Dogs are color blind. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/3 "2012-12-05T14:00:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And what about traffic lights? Dogs are color blind. Actually, they aren’t. They can see color, but it’s not as intense as we see it (since sight is, for them, secondary to their sense of smell). Their vision is just desaturated a bit. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/4 "2012-12-05T14:02:23Z")
Blackjack said he knew how to drive. But dogs lie. Maybe he could drive an automatic, but he couldn’t work the stick at all. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/5 "2012-12-05T17:35:13Z")
Gary Larson must be [thrilled](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20614593). Coming soon after the North Korean unicorn lair story, it’s getting harder and harder to distinguish between parody and reality. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/6 "2012-12-05T18:11:22Z")
I want to get that dog to drive for me. He can drive me down the interstate while I stick my head out of the passenger window. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/7 "2012-12-05T22:37:56Z")
Aw! How cool! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/8 "2012-12-05T23:03:58Z")
The headline in the Toronto Star about this said, “[Next Up, Parallel Barking](http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1298166--dogs-who-drive-new-zealand-spca-trains-dogs)”. 🙂 And dogs already have licenses. Getting insurance will be a bitch, though. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/9 "2012-12-06T02:05:04Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Actually, they aren’t. They can see color, but it’s not as intense as we see it (since sight is, for them, secondary to their sense of smell). Their vision is just desaturated a bit. It is not a matter of intensity or saturation, it is a matter of what you can discriminate. Dogs are dichromats while humans are trichromats. With respect to color, this means that a dog is like a fairly severely color-blind person, and is not able to discriminate certain colors that a normal human being can. The dog’s sense of smell being more important to them is also not a matter of the intensity of the experience, and has relatively little to do with the receptors. Humans devote a LOT of their available brainpower to analyzing the information that sight makes available, getting a lot out of it. We don’t devote a lot of brainpower to smell. Dogs devote a lot less brainpower to sight, and relatively more to smell, so they can discriminate more by smell than we can, even though what their noses are capable of taking in probably isn’t much different. I am pretty sure dogs cant be taught to drive, however. Although they can actually be pretty good with a stick, how are they going to reach the pedals?! Also, they tend to tailgate - even to self-tailgate.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/10 "2012-12-06T02:06:25Z")
I think this would make a good Doper project. Let’s all get drunk, then see whose dog drives the best. It took me awhile to catch on that a “rescue dog” was a dog that had been rescued. At first I thought it was doing the rescuing itself and was now expected to drive the victim to the hospital! > [@njtt](#): > > I am pretty sure dogs cant be taught to drive, however. Although they can actually be pretty good with a stick, how are they going to reach the pedals?! From the video I’ve seen, it looks like they’re making modifications to the vehicle that allow this. But I won’t be satisfied until I see a chihuahua behind the wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/11 "2012-12-06T04:12:46Z")
Merged two threads on the same story. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-zealand-rescue-dogs-taught-to-drive/643065/12 "2012-12-10T15:32:34Z")
BBC just showed an update. One dog, name of Monty, apparently today successfully drove unassisted for the first time. There was video.