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Family teaches their rats to drive tiny electric cars because, oddly, it's good for them

It may look like a circus stunt, but a real study shows learning to drive is actually beneficial for rats.

Courtesy of @emperorsofmischief/Instagram

Kuzko and Kronk love their "rat rods."

Some people look at rats and immediately get the willies, but people who've had pet rats know that they make delightful furry friends. They each have their own personalities and intellect, and if you get creative, you can teach the rascally rodents to do all kinds of fun things.

One of those fun things, which likely comes as an unexpected surprise, is driving. That's right, you can apparently train a rat to drive a tiny car. And the best part? It's actually good for them.

Before we get into the scientific research on that front, you simply have to see little Kuzko and Kronk behind the wheel (or pedals, actually):

Kuzko and Kronk's owners (@emperorsofmischief on Instagram) say it only took a couple of months of training 5 to 10 minutes a day for them to get the hang of the "rat rod" controls—three simple pedals that make the car go right, left, and forward.

"They do seem to enjoy their nightly practice," their owner writes. "We removed the back doors a while ago to give them full autonomy, and now when the cars come out the rats are quick to jump in on their own and hit the gas!"

The basis for even trying this in the first place is a 2019 study from the University of Richmond. Researchers taught 17 rats, some of them lab rats and some raised in "enriched environments," to drive electric toy cars in exchange for bits of cereal. (Those raised in "enriched environments" made much better drivers, in case you were wondering.)

rats, rat experiment, rats driving, pet ratsAn experiment found that learning to drive lowered rats' stress levels.Photo credit: Canva

The experiment continued after the study was published, and neuroscientist and researcher Kelly Lambert explained how observing the rat drivers early in the pandemic led to new insights.

"Initially, they learned basic movements, like climbing into the car and pressing a lever. But with practice, these simple actions evolved into more complex behaviors, such as steering the car toward a specific destination.

One morning during the pandemic, the rats also taught me something profound.

It was summer 2020, a period marked by isolation for almost everyone on the planet. When I walked into the lab one day, I noticed something unusual: The three driving-trained rats ran to the side of the cage, jumping up and down.

At that point, my lab started looking into how positive events — and anticipation for these events — shape neural functions."

rats, rat experiment, rats driving, pet ratsRat studies are often used to inform human research. Photo credit: Canva

Lambert and another researcher began a new study looking at whether anticipation (or delayed gratification). They called the research program "Wait for It," as they required the rats to wait a certain amount of time before engaging in tasks they enjoy. The results may hold some promise for non-pharmaceutical interventions in mental health challenges.

"Preliminary results suggest that rats required to wait for their rewards show signs of shifting from a pessimistic cognitive style to an optimistic one in a test designed to measure rodent optimism. They also performed better on cognitive tasks and were bolder in problem-solving strategies. We linked this program to our lab’s broader interest in behaviorceuticals, a term I coined to suggest that experiences can alter brain chemistry similarly to pharmaceuticals."

The initial study sound that learning to drive seemed to have a stress-reducing effect on the rats, with all of them testing higher in dehydroepiandrosterone, an anti-stress hormone, than controls.

rats, rat experiment, rats driving, pet rats, holding a ratAnother experiment found that rats seem to actually enjoy driving. Photo credit: Canva

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean they like it. Rats do tend to thrive with interesting things to stimulate them, but one way to know whether the rats actually enjoy something is if they choose to do it instead of doing something that takes less effort. Lambert explained:

"Although we can’t directly ask rats if they enjoy driving, we created a behavioral test to gauge their motivation to get behind the wheel. This time, instead of giving rats only the option of driving to the Froot Loop tree, they could also make a shorter journey on foot.

Surprisingly, two of the three rats chose to take the less efficient path of turning away from the reward and running to the car to drive to their Froot Loop destination. This response suggests that the rats enjoy both the journey and the rewarding destination."

Enjoying both the journey and the destination is a goal for all of us, isn't it? Thanks to our rat friends behind the wheel, we may be a bit closer to figuring out how more of us can get there.

You can follow the adventures of Kuzko and Kronk and their rat rods on Instagram.

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The evidence is in and the world has an unexpected 'naughtiest' dog breed

And no, it's not the beagle.

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A beagle gnaws on a boot.

First of all, all dogs are good boys and sweet girls. Let's just start there. But if you want to get kind of scientific about it, the folks at Protect My Paws were ready for the assignment. Turning to Instagram (as all good scientific studies should), they analyzed 87,886 posts and made charts to show the results of which breeds were the best behaved and which, well, were not.

"We counted the posts that mentioned a breed along with a popular behavior hashtag (#gooddog, #cleverdog, #cleverpuppy, #baddog, #naughtypuppy, #cheekydog, #muddydog). And then we balanced the positive hashtags against the naughty ones and looked at where they were geotagged."

First, the good news: according to their findings, the "best behaved dog" is the Korean Jindo dog. This means that, following the Instagram data, this breed had the most positive-related hashtags.

- YouTube, HappyDogTV_Officialwww.youtube.com

But there's more! They also figured out where the best-behaved (and naughtiest) breeds lived geographically. "Ukraine is the land of good boys," they report, "with 96.72 good boy behavior." Also, nearly all states in the US report more good boy hashtags than naughty. ("Kansas and North Carolina are the only states who vote ‘naughty dog’–and only by a small margin.")

Now for the naughty. According to this study, the naughtiest dog breed is (drum roll please) the Japanese Spitz, with 86.67 hashtags or mentions noting unruly behavior. For those who haven't heard of this breed, they are tiny little white marshmallow fluff-balls who are cousins to the Pomeranians. They note these pooches' "lack of respect for your personal space with a mischievous sense of humor, and you can expect to be clambered over, interrupted, snuzzled, and maliciously cuddled."

They seem to be tiny little adorable Velcro-dogs.

- Soyabean YouTube channelwww.youtube.com

According to 2puppies.com, as cute as these little babies are, problems might arise with their suspicion of strangers. They relay, "Despite its small size, it can show aggression towards intruders. The dog chooses only one person in the family to obey without question."

Furthermore, while they seem to be little cuddle bugs, "These animals cannot tolerate the loneliness. If left alone for too long, your Spitz can destroy the interior and scratch on the doors without interruption for hours."

Also on the list, according to their naughty hashtags, are the following breeds in order: the wirehaired Vizsla, the Shichon, the Mudi, the Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel meets poodle), the Chug (chihuahua meets pug), the Shichon, the Poochon, the Welsh terrier, the Keeshond, and the English springer Spaniel. (I will say as someone who watched their beagle attempt to chew the blinds clear off the rod, I was shocked they didn't make the list!)

beagle, dog, breeds, naughty, pupsA beagle sits on a table. Photo by Anna Kumpan on Unsplash

The map they share also shows the country with the most misbehaved dog breeds by the research's account. South Africa is number one on this unfortunate list, followed by Slovakia, Singapore, Australia, and the UK. The data is collected by posts showing their dogs being silly little house destroyers.

But dog-lovers, before you breathe a sigh of relief that your dog didn't make the list, there's a slightly newer report out from just this year. The folks at Country Living cite a report made by Many Pets, an insurance company, who sifted through thousands of claims and insights from their customers to come up with the list of dog breed.

Their list is quite different, with one exception. The, as they call it, most mischievous dog breeds are:

Labrador
Cockapoo
French Bulldog
German Shepherd
Cocker Spaniel

cockapoo, dog, naughty, dog breedsA cockapoo puppy sits in a field. Photo by Hugo Kruip on Unsplash

If you cross reference those lists, only one breed makes both and it's… the Cockapoo. So if you've got one of these adorable pups, hide your favorite shoes. Otherwise, you should be fine.

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Navy sailor's plea for help finding his dog sparks debate when rescue family refuses to give him up

Who has the "right" to keep Archie: His original owner, or the people who cared for him for months?

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The Internet helped a man find his missing dog. But the family who rescued him didn't want to give him up.

Finding good, reliable dog sitting is difficult under normal circumstances. Who can you really trust to take care of your dog? Will they be safe? Will they be scared while you're gone? When you're a soldier in the US military deployed for months at a time, dog-care can turn into an actual nightmare very quickly.

No one knows this better than Paulo Silva, a US Navy soldier who was recently deployed on an aircraft carrier in the Middle East for eight months. While he was away, Silva trusted a relative to watch his five-year-old Golden Retriever and certified bestie, Archie.

When Silva returned home, excited to reunite with his best friend, he was shocked to find the dog gone.

dogs, golden retriever, puppy, soldier, us navy, social media, facebook, viral, heartwarming, love, familyArchie, a 5-year-old golden retriever, became the unwitting subject of a social media custody battle. Photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash

“A family member that was well-trusted felt they had no choice but to give away my dog,” Silva told the Asbury Park Press. “At no point was I told about it (before returning home) and I had asked time and time again about him." The relative told Silva that Archie was having trouble settling in, but the decision still came as a massive shock. Worse, Silva's relative couldn't or wouldn't provide him the contact information of the family he'd given Archie to. In interviews, Silva hasn't said much about the reasoning behind these cruel decisions. All he knew was he was scared and left scrambling.

Silva posted a desperate plea to Facebook for anyone with information to contact him. Then social media did what it always seems to do in stories like this one: it delivered.

The post went mega-viral, being shared all across different social and professional networks in the area, and before too long, Silva received tips about where he could find his dog. Not too long after that, Silva and Archie were joyously reunited.

What a perfect happy ending for this feel-good social media story, right? Well, not quite.

It's easy to root for the storybook ending, but there's another family at the other end of the story. For them, it's anything but a fairy tale.


When the tipster first reached out to Silva with Archie's whereabouts, there was one problem: the people who had taken Archie in didn't want to give him up and wouldn't respond to messages.

He had been adopted, apparently freely, by a young woman and her boyfriend when Silva's relative decided to find Archie a new home. In their minds, Archie belonged to them, fair and square, and after months of love and snuggles and care, they had bonded deeply with him. They were sorry for the situation Silva found himself in, but they weren't going to simply "roll over."

Silva then wrote an open letter to Archie's new family, pleading his case.

"This dog isn’t just a pet to me. He is my heart, my companion, and a piece of my soul that helped carry me through some of the hardest times in my life. We’ve been through everything together—before my deployment, during training, and through the toughest emotional battles. That kind of bond is irreplaceable," he wrote.

"I love this dog more than words can express—more than life itself. First, I want to say that I appreciate that you’ve cared for my dog. I have no doubt that you’re good people and that you’ve offered a safe and loving home. But I need you to know that this wasn’t supposed to happen. I was never asked, never informed, and never had the chance to speak up or say goodbye. I left for duty trusting that my dog would be waiting for me when I came home. I’m reaching out publicly not out of anger, but out of heartbreak. I am respectfully asking you to please consider returning my dog to me. I know this isn’t an easy request, and I understand that emotions may be involved on both sides—but I am pleading with you, not just as a veteran, but as someone who lost something deeply precious to them without any choice or voice in the matter."

According to the Asbury Press, Silva was considering legal action if the couple didn't return Archie.

Eventually, the woman and her boyfriend who had adopted Archie decided to return him to Silva. They were heartbroken about the decision.

Even worse, beyond just losing the dog they loved, Jamie Goldstein and her boyfriend were cast as villains in the now-viral story. They began receiving hate messages and public pressure to turn over the dog. While some people threw their support behind the couple's right to keep Archie, many more sent nasty messages and threats.

After they decided to send Archie back to his original home, Goldstein shared an emotional letter of her own on social media.


"He is the sweetest boy and everyone who has met him can attest to it. I love this dog with all my heart," she wrote. "Archie was never stolen, he was given to my boyfriend, we just loved him as our own. ... I can only imagine how Paulo felt when he came back from serving our country & didnt know where sweet Archie was. This feels like a mourning. I miss you so much already, I hope you are safe & getting all the love you deserve, baby Archie. We miss you so much."

Although the couple ultimately did the right thing, it's hard not to feel deeply for them and their loss. Their quick love for Archie was so apparent, and it's unfair that things unfolded the way they did.

As for Silva, he's incredibly grateful for the family that took Archie in and loved him for those many months.

"I do not see them as villains and you shouldn’t either," he wrote in another post. "I know their hearts were in the right place. Thank you both for loving Archie as your own. I will always be grateful for that. I will never stop showing you guys my love and support."

He even offered to arrange an "open door policy" so the couple could visit Archie any time they wanted.

While the story is full of debate and heartbreak, there is one clear winner: Archie. What a lucky pup to be so loved by two different families. If anything, the story speaks volumes about how quickly and powerfully pets can find a place in our hearts. It also ends with mutual kindness, both in the couple returning Archie and Silva handling the conflict with grace. It may not be your typical feel-good social media reunion, but it's got plenty of silver lining.

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Study reveals which dog breed is the smartest—and it's not what you might expect

Sorry, border collies. It's not you.

Photo by Anthony Duran on Unsplash

The Belgian Malinois took the top spot in canine cognition tests.

If you Google "smartest dog breeds," most lists that pop up put Border Collies in the No. 1 spot, followed in some order by Poodles, German Shepherds, and Golden Retrievers. But a 2023 study of canine cognition from the University of Helsinki puts a whole different breed at the top of the ladder—one that most of us have probably seen before but haven't heard the name of—the Belgian Malinois.

Best known as a police or security dog, the Belgian Malinois is a shepherd breed that looks very similar to a German Shepherd. Both breeds are of similar height and coloring, but the Malinois is lighter weight and its ears are more triangular-shaped, according to the American Kennel Club.

Belgian Malinois, belgian shepherd, dog breeds, smart dog breedsThe Belgian Malinois is a shepherd breed often used for police and security work.Tomás de la Maza/Wikimedia Commons

So, what is it that makes the Belgian Malinois more intelligent than other dog breeds?

The study published in Scientific Reports analyzed 1,002 dogs from 13 different breeds using a battery of smartDOG cognition tests. These tests involve food reward tasks that determine a dog's capacity for memory, problem-solving, impulse control, reading human gestures, copying human behavior, and logical reasoning. Despite a wide field of research on dogs, only a handful of studies have examined cognition of specific breeds instead of breed groups. Additionally, not much empirical research has been done on nonsocial cognitive traits such as memory, inhibitory control, spatial problem-solving, and logical reasoning—all of which were covered in this study.

Belgian Malinois, belgian shepherd, dog breeds, smart dog breedsBelgian Malinois scored 35 out of 39 points on three key tasks in the study.D. Williams/Wikimedia Commons

The researchers identified a few different tests as signifying high intelligence. For the most significant measure of intelligence—logical reasoning—the study revealed no significant difference between the dog breeds. So, according to The Telegraph, the three tests the authors singled out instead for measuring and comparing intelligence were:

- A V-detour test, in which a dog had to detour around a transparent V-shaped fence to get to a food reward, showing some problem-solving ability.

- A human gesture reading test, in which a dog's response to five gestures—constant pointing, brief pointing, pointing with the foot, pointing at something while facing another direction, and following a human's gaze—was measured.

- An unsolvable task test, in which a dog tries to access food in an unopenable box, measuring independence and how quickly a dog asked a human for help.

The Belgian Malinois scored 35 out of a possible 39 points on these three tasks, making it the top scorer for high intelligence overall. Border Collies came in second with 26 points and hovawarts came in third at 25 points.

smart dog breeds, smartest dog, border collieBorder collies are often listed as the smartest dogs, but they scored lower than the Belgian Malinois on key tests.Photo credit: Canva

The study authors point out that there are strengths and weaknesses in most breeds. Some score very high on some tests and very low on others. Some breeds saw middle-of-the-road scores across most tests.

According to IFLScience, one weakness the Malinois showed was in the cylinder test, in which a dog is taught to retrieve a piece of food from inside an opaque cylinder. The opaque cylinder then gets replaced with a transparent one to see if the dog will go around to the end of the cylinder to retrieve the treat, as it did with the opaque one, or try to go directly through the side of the cylinder to get to it. This test measures inhibition, and the Malinois scored among the lowest of all breeds on it.

Every dog has its bright and dim spots, but it's clear why the Malinois is a dog of choice for security work: high intelligence is necessary, of course, but even being low on inhibition can be seen as a plus for a working dog that needs to be highly responsive and act quickly when needed.

belgian malinois, belgian shepherd, smart dogsBelgian Malinois are highly responsive.Giphy GIF by VTM.be

“The Belgian Shepherd Malinois stood out in many of the cognitive tasks, having very good results in a majority of the tests,” study author and owner and CEO of smartDOG Dr. Katriina Tiira told The Telegraph.

“Border Collies also performed well in many of the tests," she added.

Nice to throw the dethroned Border Collie a bone, there.

This article originally appeared two years ago.

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