Monty, Porter and Ginny have been taught how to drive a car. They can start a car, accelerate and steer.
Believe it or not, the animals sit in a driving position and respond to instructions called out from dog behavior experts.
The dogs were taught to drive a specially outfitted Mini Countryman after being trained indoors on a modified cart with a steering wheel and separate controls for shifting, braking and accelerating.
Mark Vette, an animal trainer says, “We’ve got 10 behaviors we’re all putting together, so each behavior is a trained behavior, and then you put them into a sequence.”
However, the trainer admits that it’s a lot to do and it takes a long time.
Research has found that the average dog is about as smart as a 2-year-old child. Brain scans have also confirmed that man’s best friend has an uncanny ability to understand and respond to human commands and other signals.
“So we’ll start the car, get into position, brake on, gear in place, back onto the steering wheel, accelerator, take off and hoon (drive fast) along the straight and then stop.”
However, the animal trainer says things did not always go smoothly when the dogs got into the real car.
“A couple of days ago the car was going too fast, the trainer nearly got run over,” he said.
Now the animals can start a car, accelerate and steer they are scheduled to show off their skills on live TV in New Zealand next week.
For the final test the dogs will also have to brake as they are driving along a narrow lane.
Trainers are hoping they won’t become too distracted driving past any lamp posts.
By Patricia Wambui.
Source: Sky News.
