Driving dog cruises around a farm in owner’s pickup truck
Published on May 06, 2022 at 12:06 PM (UTC+4)
by Patrick Jackson
Last updated on Jun 08, 2022 at 2:07 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
A farmer in Australia has his own chauffeur, a driving dog.
Meet Lexie the Jack Russell – aka the driving dog.
This good girl not only thinks she’s big enough to round up sheep, but drives around in a pickup truck on the 200-hectare property as well.
Lexie’s best mate Cam Zschech, 21, the son of the farm’s owners, took it upon himself to teach the eager family pooch what to do behind the wheel.
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“We were driving down the laneway the other day just moving a mob of sheep, and I thought, now’s the time – I could teach the dog to drive,” Zschech told ABC News.
“Because that’s how I learned to drive – dad just put it in first gear and let it idle along, I was just steering it – and I thought, we’ve got that much time, I might as well give Lexie a go.
“There’s no reason she can’t do it, just ’cause she’s a dog.”
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And so, that’s exactly what he did when he let Lexie behind the wheel – stuck the pickup in first and let her take the wheel, all while keeping a keen eye out for any hazards or obstacles so he could reach the brakes for the tiny pup.
For Lexie, taking on tasks like this is nothing new,
Zschech said the pint-sized Jack Russell truly believes she’s a sheepdog capable of rounding up the 1900 ewes on the property.
“Lexie thinks she’s a sheepdog – she’s got the right attitude for the role, but her size sort of lets her down a bit, she’s one-tenth the size of a ewe,” jokes Zschech.
Lexie was injured by a sheep that chased back after her when she was a puppy, standing on her leg.
She made a full recovery, but the farming family decided the little pup would be better suited to hanging out in the truck.
“Usually when we feed out hay, she steers the ute along while I’m on the back feeding the hay out – it’s pretty good teamwork, really,” Zschech grins.
And Zschech clearly has a sense of humour about the situation, telling ABC the dog is only a year old so she doesn’t have her license yet.
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A car zealot from a young age, Patrick has put his childhood spent obsessing over motoring magazines and TV shows to good use over the past six years as a journalist. Fuelled by premium octane coffee, he’s contributed to Finder, DriveTribe, WhichCar, Vehicle History and Drive Section.
