Driving Dogs

There are a number of different studies (or less than studious conjectures) on which animal is the cleverest. Chimpanzees are always high-flyers: the ability to fling poo at nosy visitors to zoos cannot be underestimated. Dolphins also always find themselves close to the top of the list; apparently a dolphin finished 15th in an aptitude test which involved 99 humans and one dolphin although I'm pretty certain this never happened and I only include it because it amuses me. 

Dogs meanwhile find themselves well off the pace, often popping up at some point or other on the list, but never commanding the top few spots, often embarrassingly losing out to pigeons. I've always been a bit dubious of the dog-intelligence claim because their loyalty is often cited as a reason, but their obedience feels a little robotic to me and also annoyingly needy. However, some dogs in New Zealand have swayed my opinion, causing me to consider their brain power to be beyond that of not only other animals, but many humans also. These pooches have been learning to drive. The point in the exercise is to prove their intelligence in a bid to encourage people to adopt them. It would be incredibly helpful to have a dog-chauffeur to take me from place to place. There would be no more debate and who is going to drink and who is going to drive. The only potential problem is if people feel intellectually inferior to these mutts; you know how it is - it's always a little intimidating to talk to an ultra-bright person and there would be little worse than feeling awkward around your own pet as you nod along to their conversation, pretending that you understand and hoping that you don't get caught out.

I'll stop waffling now and leave you with the link to the video: Driving Dogs