Whoever said that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks obviously never thought to stick them in the driving seat of a car – but an animal charity in New Zealand did, and guess what, dogs really do know how to drive!

The Telegraph reports that the SPCA in Auckland decided that teaching rescued dogs how to drive would be the most impressive way for them to showcase their learning abilities, and hopefully, find them a new home. To do so, they called in expert dog trainer Mark Vetter, who eagerly took up the challenge.

From a group of seven handpicked dogs, Vette selected three of them – “Ginny”, “Monty” and “Porter” – to get behind the wheel. Ginny is a one-year old whippet who was rescued from her abusive owners, while giant schnauzer Monty is believed to be 18 months old, and was taken to the rescue center when his owners decided that he had become “too much to handle”. Not much is known about Porter, who was found roaming the streets.

The dogs shot to fame last week, when Porter, said to be the best of the three, was filmed behind the wheel of a specially adapted Mini Countryman live on the popular New Zealand TV show Campbell Live.

The Auckland SPCA said that the idea for the project came about as part of an effort to change people’s misconceptions over rescued dogs.

As Christine Kalin, CEO of SPCA Auckland explains:

“I think sometimes people think because they’re getting an animal that’s been abandoned that somehow it’s a second-class animal.”

Except that now it’s a second class animal that can drive the kids to school in the morning. Woof! Woof!