#thedrivingdog

[faiths-fright-flicks]

Look For Previous Work

By Faith Ortega

While scrolling through reels on Instagram the other day, I stumbled across a heartwarming yet unbelievable video. The roughly minute-long video centers around three dogs named Monty, Ginny, and Porter. But these aren’t your average dogs. Monty, Ginny, and Porter have the human-dominated ability to drive a car. 

As the video explains, the dogs were pulled from shelters and allowed to learn to drive through a 47-day training program. Why shelters? Well, the experiment was intended to prove that dogs of all backgrounds are intelligent. The dogs were given modified cars with special ignition switches, steering wheels, gear levers, brakes, and accelerators. Initially, the dogs were trained indoors with a trainer dragging a small car seat simulator. Eventually, all three dogs were transitioned outdoors and completed competent driving tests while on live television. The dogs could successfully start the car, change gears, accelerate, turn, and park.

Now that you’ve seen and heard the full story, you can understand why I was extremely skeptical. At first, I felt moved and uplifted by the video. Such a strong emotional reaction, however, reminded me to “check my emotions”. One key step when fact-checking is to “check your emotions” by disregarding any strong feeling a piece elicits and therefore avoiding any built-up bias. So I pushed my feelings of excitement and joy aside and began a simple fact-checking procedure.

The fact-checking method I worked with was looking for previous work. After watching the video, I jumped onto Google and typed “Were three dogs taught how to drive?” After digging for a few minutes, I found a reputable news source confirming the incredible dog-driving tale.

Forbes: Those Three Clever Dogs Trained To Drive A Car Provide Valuable Lessons For AI Self-Driving Cars

In a Forbes article published on February 8, 2020, by contributor and machine learning expert Dr. Lance Elliot, Elliot confirms the training process of the famous driving dogs. The article clarifies that Monty, Ginny, and Porter were revealed to the world in December 2012 after being trained to drive by the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). The article states, “You might be wondering whether it was all faked…The dog driving feat was not faked. Well, let’s put it this way, the effort was truthful in the sense that the dogs were indeed able to drive a car, albeit with some notable constraints involved” (Elliot). Elliot goes on to explain that with the help of “specially equipped driving controls”,  “specialized training on how to drive”,  “foc[us] on distinct driving behaviors”, and “driving on command”, the dogs were able to technically drive a car (Elliot).  Now equipped with the confirmation of New Zealand’s driving dogs, I feel safe taking joy in watching Monty, Ginny, and Porter operate a car. If you’d like to watch these canines in action, I’d suggest visiting the SPCA’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDrivingDogs/videos

[lorilu3]

"You'd better stay off the sidewalk!"