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(NBC NEWS) - It sounds straight from a movie: dog handlers in New Zealand say they have trained dogs how to drive cars.

After weeks of indoor training on how to change gear, brake and steer, canines Monty, Ginny and Porter have finally been allowed behind the wheel of a real car.

With a little help from their handlers, the dogs are able to put the car in gear, hit the accelerator and start driving.

The dogs can even steer the cars when told. The dogs were trained by a local animal rescue charity.

Trainers say they created a series of instinctive behaviors for the dogs to learn.

"In this case we've got ten behaviours we're all putting together, so each behaviour is a trained behaviour, and then you put them into a sequence," said dog trainer Mark Vette. "So it's a lot to do, and for the dog to actually start to get an idea of what actually is happening takes quite a long time."