I watched a silly cartoon the other day where the dad ate his kids’ homework.  I started thinking about that age old excuse about the dog eating homework, and I wondered where it came from.  After researching for more time than I care to admit, the answer is still hidden somewhere in the murky depths of history.

The earliest reference I could find was a book published in 1937, at least according to one forum poster on this very lengthy thread about the origins of the phrase:

“Google Books has "I'm very sorry, but my dog's eaten your Greek prose" in Frank Fletcher's After Many Days: A Schoolmaster's Memories, 1937 (p. 37).”

No matter where it originated, I wanted to know whether or not dogs actually do eat homework.  I certainly never lost any work to our many dogs, even though on occasion I would have loved to have that excuse.

Anecdotally, I saw enough references to it happening for real that I can say with almost certainty that dogs do, indeed, eat homework from time to time.  In fact, it sounds as though it may not be that uncommon.  Perhaps I just got lucky.  I can’t complain, because in reality, if a dog ate my homework, I would have had to redo whatever it was I lost, and there is nothing worse than repeating the same boring work!

Have you ever lost your homework, or any other important papers, to a dog?  Did the person you report to buy your excuse that a dog ate it?