Doggy Driver
The Dog Ride On Car

In the late seventies, Pam Strametz trained her Obedience Trial Champion sheltie named Trouble to drive this child's ride on car.  It's an electric PowerWheels type car that belonged to Pam's nephew.  Trouble learned to get on the car, put one leg on the steering wheel and the other on the gas pedal, and off he would go.  He was featured driving the car in many ads for our local dog training club (www.MonteryBayDog.org) and could be found amazing the crowds as part the county fair demonstration team.

One of the problems with Trouble's driving was that he could not actually steer the car.  He could make it go by putting his foot on the gas pedal switch, but then he would drive off into whatever direction he happened to be facing. As a practical matter, this meant someone had to intercept him at the end of each run before he drove off a cliff.

Pam now has a new sheltie named Razz who has demonstrated a showmanship and sparkle similar Trouble.  Razz is very easy going and likes to show off to a crowd, so Pam is in the process on introducing him to the car.  

As part of getting the car running again after many years of storage we have added a few improvements.  The car has been converted to operate remotely using standard hobby RC electronics.  By replacing the on / off switch with an electronic speed controller, the car can now operate at variable speeds in both forward and reverse directions.  Remote steering is now also possible with the addition of a heavy duty servo attached the steering linkage.  These improvements should allow a very choreographed and intricate routine to be developed for Razz to perform.

Think of it as a huge scale radio controlled car...

Watch Razz Drive his car

Parts for this project were purchased from Tower Hobbies: