How would you like a dog as a chauffeur? In New Zealand it's almost possible

We've all heard about the efforts of Google to create a driverless car, and for those of us who spend plenty of time in traffic, the concept is both exciting and scary at the same time. While sitting back and relaxing as your car drives you to work might sound rather appealing, it does have a certain terminator-esque feel to it.

But, the folks in New Zealand have taken a whole different approach to non human piloted cars. They have trained their dogs to drive their cars. Ok, so the exercise was more done for publicity then as viable alternative to rush hour madness, but three dogs were indeed trained to drive a car.

The project started as an awareness campaign to prove that shelter dogs were both intelligent and capable and would make excellent pets. Three dogs were trained to drive a specially modified car that featured dash mounted brakes and accelerator to cater for the lack of long canine legs. The dogs could start the car, put it in drive, release the brake and apply the accelerator, then steer the car down a track.

The whole event was televised live on national television resulting in immediate requests for adoption of the driver dogs. The dogs even had their own Facebook page.

However, while the concept did manage to raise awareness of the plight of rescue dogs in New Zealand, it is unlikely that you will be seeing dog chauffeurs any time soon.

(Source)