Five men and five dogs (each man owned a dog) went hiking. They encountered a river that was swift and deep. The only way to cross it was an abandoned boat, left ashore on their side. But it would only hold three living things. Unfortunately, the dogs were edgy and could not be near another person (not even momentarily) unless its owner was present. One of the dogs attended a highly advanced, highly specialized obedience school and therefore knew how to operate the boat -- the other dogs lack this skill.

How did the five men and the five dogs cross the river?

(In reply to It's a dog's life down on the riverbank.... by Dan)

After your third step, Melvin is then on the opposite shore with Rover and Fido, without Fido's owner. If the problem allowed for isolated 'separated areas,' it becomes completely trivial.
My solution uses the fact that dogs can be near other dogs without their owners. Your oversight is that anyone on the same side of the river is considered to be 'near' each other; justification for that could be that if Fido could walk to his little separate area, he could just as easily walk back and attack Melvin, since Ichabod has been left helplessly on the far bank.

Posted by DJ on 2003-10-06 12:25:44