the dog ate my homework 2022

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Breaking news, i’m a teacher — and my dog ate my students’ homework.

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Would you look at that: The dog really did eat their homework.

A teacher was left shocked after her pet pooch devoured her class’ assignments, leaving paper fragments all over her kitchen floor.

The photo went viral in a Reddit thread with the caption, “When you’re a teacher and your dog eats everyone’s homework.”

The post earned more than 1,100 upvotes and people on the platform were quick to crack a few jokes about the puppy mishap.

“How the tables turn,” one user said.

“You should show this picture to your class. They’d enjoy it (as long as you give everyone good marks for it),” commented someone else.

“But the real question is … do the kids believe you or do they think you’re making an excuse because you forgot to grade their homework?” quipped another.

While it’s unclear whether the Reddit poster, who did not reveal specifics, really is a teacher or not, it didn’t stop readers’ imaginations.

“I would have LOVE for a teacher to come in and say, ‘Kids. You all got As. My dog ate your homework,'” one user giggled, while another said: “Good dog! Now everyone gets an ‘A.'”

“Your dog: ‘See? I got rid of all this so you have more time to pet me!'” joked someone else.

Although the age-old excuse is usually just a fib, hungry hounds have been known to actually eat kids’ homework. In fact, just two years ago, a student in the Philippines fell victim to his dogs’ late-night munchies — all of which was caught on video.

The two pups played a round of tug of war with the papers until it was in scraps, making a confusing sight for the student, Darren James Lamban, when he awoke the next morning.

While he might be one of the only people whose devious pet has truly snacked on their homework, the excuse dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.

In a 1905 edition of a Welsh-American magazine, music critic William ApMadoc recited an old anecdote of a minister whose sermon met the same distasteful fate — being eaten by his dog.

But it wasn’t until a 1929 speech penned by a retiring headmaster, James Bewsher, that the tale of homework-eating pups was seen.

“It is a long time since I have had the excuse about the dog tearing up the arithmetic homework,” his speech, which was published in the Manchester Guardian, read.

Other sources claim John Steinbeck once begged an editor to extend the deadline for “Of Mice and Men” in 1936 due to the manuscript’s unfortunate bout with the author’s Irish setter, who took a hefty bite — or two — out of the book.

Or so he said.

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“The dog ate my homework”

How did the dog become your teacher’s problem?

When we’re actively enrolled in a journey, it’s on us. That’s the requirement once you choose to act professionally. You know the terms, the dates, the structure. It wasn’t even fine print. It’s simply the structure you agreed to be part of.

Of course, enrollment is frightening. Because enrollment confers responsibility. “This is something I’m choosing to do.”

Compulsory education doesn’t often lead to real learning. That’s because compulsory education is coerced. There’s no active enrollment.

For the rest of us, there’s the chance to engage and to move forward. And part of the journey is acknowledging that we have a dog, that life gets in the way, that it’s never the ideal moment or the perfect time. And then doing something about it.

Leaping isn’t easy, but it’s far better and safer than the alternative.

January 18, 2022

Where Did The Phrase “The Dog Ate My Homework” Come From?

Dogs are known as man’s best friend. Dogs keep us safe, are hard workers … and can provide a handy excuse in a pinch. Maybe that’s why versions of the classic expression the dog ate my homework have been around for hundreds of years.

Today, the dog ate my homework is used as a stock example of the kind of silly excuses schoolchildren give for why their work isn’t finished. Very rarely do people say, “the dog ate my homework” and expect it to be taken literally; they use the expression as an example of a typically flimsy excuse.

So where did the phrase come from?

Forrest Wickman, a writer for Slate , describes the legend of the 6th-century Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise as the alleged first recorded “the dog ate my homework” story. According to the tale, Saint Ciarán had a tame young fox that would take his writings to his master for him. One day, the fox grew up and decided to eat the leather strap binding the writings together instead. Still, this tale is more Garden-of-Eden parable and less terrible schoolchild excuse.

The notion that dogs will eat just about anything, including paper, turns up in lots of stories over the centuries. An example comes from The Humors of Whist , published in 1808 in Sporting Magazine . In the story, the players are sitting around playing cards when one of them remarks that their companion would have lost the game had the dog not eaten the losing card. Good boy.

Some attribute the creation of the dog ate my homework to a joke that was going around at the beginning of the 20th century. In a tale found as far back as an 1894 memoir by Anglican priest Samuel Reynolds Hole, a preacher gives a shortened version of a sermon because a dog got into his study and ate some of the pages he had written. However, the clerk loved it because they had been wanting the preacher to shorten his sermons for years.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the first example of the dog ate my homework excuse in print can be found in a speech given by retiring headmaster James Bewsher in 1929 and published in the Manchester Guardian : “It is a long time since I have had the excuse about the dog tearing up the arithmetic homework.” The way this comment is phrased suggests that the whole dog ate my homework story had been around for some time before it was put in print.

When was the word homework created?

But in order for a dog to eat homework specifically, homework had to be invented (oh, and how we wish it hadn’t been). True, the word homework , as in what we call today housework , appears as early as 1653. But homework , as in school exercises to be done at home, isn’t found until 1852. Once we had homework , it was only a matter of time before the dog was accused of eating it.

How we use this phrase now

No matter the origin, sometime in the 1950s, the expression became set as the dog ate my homework . This inspired any number of riffs on the theme, like my cow ate my homework or my brother ate my homework . In the 1960s, the dog ate my homework continued to gain popularity. The expression popped up a couple times in politics over the years, like when President Reagan said to reporters in 1988, “I had hoped that we had marked the end of the ‘dog-ate-my-homework’ era of Congressional budgetry … but it was not to be.”

It seems unlikely that the dog ate my homework was ever used consistently or frequently by actual schoolchildren. In fact, it’s the unlikeliness of the story that makes it so funny and absurd as a joke. Instead, teachers and authority figures appear to have cited the dog ate my homework many times over the years as such a bad excuse they can’t believe students are really using it.

In the 21st century, students don’t spend as much time working with physical pen and paper as they once did. That may contribute to the decline in the use of the phrase. So, maybe soon we’ll see a new equally absurd phrase pop up. Come on Zoomers, you’ve got this.

WATCH: What's A Unique Homework Routine That Works?

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The Dog Ate My Homework

• By: Melanie Doppler

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Episode #23: Season One Wrap Up

A quick episode to wrap up the first season of The Dog Ate My Homework podcast. In this episode we'll recap some of the highlights of season one, as well as preview a few ideas ahead for season two! For more information, ideas and listening guides, visit my website: www.mathcoachconnection.com

Episode #22 Fifth Grade Decimal Strategies: How Fifth Graders Become Decimal Problem Solvers

Understanding decimals is one thing, but solving problems with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of decimals is an even bigger challenge. In this episode, we dive into the many ways that children build problem-solving fluency with decimals, how they learn to check their work for accuracy and to make sure it makes sense, as well as ways that you can support your child with these concepts at home. For more information, ideas and listening guides, visit my website: www.mathcoachconnection.com

Episode #21 Fifth Grade Decimals Part 1: How Fifth Graders Build Understanding of This Complex New Idea

Decimals may seem brand new in fifth grade, but children have actually been building decimal understanding since kindergarten. Listen to this episode to help understand how your child learns and understands decimals, ways to help keep them organized in their work and learn ways to help your child tap into their previous knowledge to build understanding of decimals. For more information, ideas and listening guides, visit my website: www.mathcoachconnection.com

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25 episodes

Parents, this is the podcast you have been waiting for. Do you ever wonder why math looks so different from the way we learned it growing up? The Dog Ate My Homework answers this question and more. In this practical podcast, I break down what it means for your child to be proficient in elementary math and give easy-to-use tips and activities to support your child in getting there. Every episode includes tips to try right away with your child to support them with math homework, and math at home.

The Dog Ate My Homework Melanie Doppler

• Kids & Family
• 5.0 • 1 Rating
• FEB 28, 2022

Episode #23: Season One Wrap Up

A quick episode to wrap up the first season of The Dog Ate My Homework podcast. In this episode we'll recap some of the highlights of season one, as well as preview a few ideas ahead for season two! For more information, ideas and listening guides, visit my website: www.mathcoachconnection.com

Episode #22 Fifth Grade Decimal Strategies: How Fifth Graders Become Decimal Problem Solvers

Understanding decimals is one thing, but solving problems with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of decimals is an even bigger challenge. In this episode, we dive into the many ways that children build problem-solving fluency with decimals, how they learn to check their work for accuracy and to make sure it makes sense, as well as ways that you can support your child with these concepts at home. For more information, ideas and listening guides, visit my website: www.mathcoachconnection.com

Episode #21 Fifth Grade Decimals Part 1: How Fifth Graders Build Understanding of This Complex New Idea

Decimals may seem brand new in fifth grade, but children have actually been building decimal understanding since kindergarten. Listen to this episode to help understand how your child learns and understands decimals, ways to help keep them organized in their work and learn ways to help your child tap into their previous knowledge to build understanding of decimals. For more information, ideas and listening guides, visit my website: www.mathcoachconnection.com

Episode #20: 4th Grade Division: Supporting Your Child as They Solve Challenging Problems

In fourth grade, the numbers get larger and the story problems become more challenging. So how do you help your child maintain a growth mindset and positive attitude towards math so they can make sense of division problems and push past their frustrations? Listen to this episode to find out! For more information, ideas and listening guides, visit my website: www.mathcoachconnection.com

Episode #19: Fourth Grade Multiplication Part 2: The Strategies and At-Home Tips

Fourth graders learn not just how to solve multiplication problems, but how to be efficient problem solvers and critical thinkers as they choose the most efficient solution strategies as well. In this episode we dive into the nitty gritty of multiplication strategies that fourth graders use and go beyond just the standard algorithm. If you've ever felt like your child's multiplication homework looks like a foreign language to you because the strategies look so different from the way you learned growing up, then this is the episode for you! Tune in to learn about the strategies fourth graders use to problem solve, as well as some "subtle support" ideas for you to try at home to support your fourth grader's independent problem-solving skills. For more information, ideas and listening guides, visit my website: www.mathcoachconnection.com

Episode #18: Fourth Grade Multiplication Part 1: The Major Shifts from Third to Fourth Grade

Fourth grade multiplication builds directly on the skills learned in third grade. In this episode, we dive into the major shifts from third grade multiplication to fourth grade multiplication and discuss ways that you can support your child at home through these major shifts in problem solving. For more information, ideas and listening guides, visit my website: www.mathcoachconnection.com

• © Melanie Doppler

Customer Reviews

Great resource.

Melanie does an amazing job at highlighting the many conflicts parents may encounter in their child’s math career. She also provides many possible solutions or options so all parents can apply this learning to their own unique situation.

Top Podcasts In Kids & Family

the dog ate my homework

English [ edit ]

Phrase [ edit ].

• 2011 May 6, Damian Carrington, “Environment action delays blamed on 'dog ate my homework' excuses”, in The Guardian ‎ [1] , archived from the original on 2022-08-24 : Their reasons for missed deadlines are mostly of the " dog ate my homework variety" including such easily foreseeable events as yesterday's elections and that the badger culling policy is "difficult and sensitive".
• 2014 September 12, Oscar Webb, quoting Donald Campbell, “UK Government Changes Its Line On Diego Garcia Flight Logs Sought in Rendition Row - Again”, in VICE ‎ [2] , archived from the original on 2022-12-05 : The government's excuses for Diego Garcia's missing records are getting increasingly confused and desperate. Ministers could hardly be less credible if they simply said ' the dog ate my homework .'
• 2017 February 18, Mia Berman, “Go West-minster, Young Mastiff”, in HuffPost ‎ [3] , archived from the original on 2019-04-09 : Our immune system's weak; we've been sick as a dog, missing work and school, resorting to " the dog ate my homework " excuses amidst these frigid dog days of winter.

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The dog ate my homework

It was early morning, and I was in my office putting the finishing touches to my income taxes. I had reports, print-outs and receipts sorted and stacked on the desk and floor, ready for the final package.

The door popped open and my wife, Sandy said, “Did you forget you have a doctor’s appointment this morning?”

“Yes, I did,” I responded. “I guess that is why I am sitting here in my shorts, drinking orange juice, finishing a bagel and acting like I have nowhere to go.”

I showered and dressed in record time, and the last thing I said to my wife before I dashed out the door was, “Make sure my office door stays closed. If Abbey gets in there, she will think it is playtime with all the papers lying around.”

Abbey is a full-blooded English springer spaniel with pedigree papers a mile long and ancestors with royal-sounding names and is definitely my wife’s dog.

She is a beautiful dog and very smart, but she is a thief. She can pull a handkerchief from a pocket or purse in an instant without making a sound or any disturbance.

Sometimes I think she invented the paper shredder because she can take a paper napkin and turn it into enough small pieces to fill a large garbage can.

Abbey and my office are like a match and gasoline — there’s always trouble.

I arrived at the doctor’s office a few minutes before my scheduled appointment and just finished signing in as the nurse said, “You realize you will have a while to wait before you can see the doctor?”

Puzzled, I asked, “How long?”

“According to our appointment schedule, about two months,” she laughed.

It seems I had the right time and the right day just the wrong month.

A short time later, I was home again making a big correction in our appointment book and getting ready to head back to my office and the taxes.

As I got to my office door, I saw it was open. Now, I am not sure if I didn’t close it, if my wife left it open or Abbey got a ladder and picked the lock, but I have been married long enough to know not to ask that question.

I never entered the office but turned and looked into the living room … and there was the answer I dreaded.

Scattered over the carpet was what looked like a ream of paper all shredded into pieces the size of postage stamps. It was a collection of receipts and deductions and in the middle of this mess Abbey was stretched out with wide innocent eyes and a look that said, “Who, me?”

At that moment, Sandy entered from the other side of the living room and announced in shock, “Abbey — bad girl!”

Abbey apparently took this as a sign of approval as she promptly rolled over on her back, expecting a belly rub. She seemed pleased with herself and all her hard work.

As Sandy and I picked up the scattered pieces and put them in a large plastic bag, Abbey selected some of her favorite pieces and ran off with them in hopes we would chase her. Some pieces had dates, others had amounts of money, still others had business names, but of course nothing matched.

What I had was a 2,000-piece puzzle with no picture to use as a guide with which to put it back together.

Once the cleanup was finished, Sandy mentioned the one fact we had both avoided up until that moment.

“What the heck are we going to do? The taxes are done and in the computer waiting to be printed off. Our only problem is the bulk of our receipts and proof have been shredded by your dog.”

I replied, while holding up the bag filled with paper shreds, “Personally, I intend to keep this bag and if we are called in for an audit, I am taking it with me and swearing YOUR dog ate MY receipts.”

“As a matter of fact, I think I will collect her poop for the next two days and freeze it just so I am sure I have all the pieces. You, on the other hand, had better start baking dog biscuits with tiny files in them, because if we get audited, I am pretty sure Abbey’s going to jail,” I said.

John Kasun writes from his home in Duncansville where he now keeps his office door locked at all times.

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The Dog Ate My Homework

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The dog ate my homework

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The Dog Ate My Homework!

Top 5 funniest student excuses.

The Survey Says

Everyone knows that a great teacher embraces creativity and encourages it in each and every student. Many students learn this lesson quite well but unfortunately, illustrate their mastery when pressed about homework not being completed or projects left undone.

The excuse “the dog ate my homework” probably dates to the Paleolithic era when a creative student met the first dog. Poor canines have been blamed for academic failures for the next 15,000 years. While the excuse continues to be an old favorite, students today have applied their creativity to parents, families, other pets and now of course technology.

ESGI and ThinkFives polled hundreds of teachers to solicit the funniest or most creative excuses they have heard in their classrooms. These are actual excuses used by students and shared with ThinkFives.

It’s My Parents!

• My mom punished me by not letting me do it.
• My mother said “Jesus is coming soon so we better go to church instead of doing homework.”
• My mama fell through the porch.
• My dad didn’t do it.
• My nanny drove over my science project and the fruit flies just didn’t make it.

There’s an Animal or Sibling Involved

• My cat peed on my homework.
• A duck flew into the house and grabbed it with the Rice Krispies.
• My little brother hid it too well during hide and seek.
• My baby sister ate it because she still doesn’t know what food is.
• My brother was farting all night and I couldn’t be in my room. That’s where my computer is.

Darn that Technology 

• Our Internet does not work unless the sun is shining.
• My mom locked me in the bathroom until I would take a shower and there was no wifi in there.
• I thought I was using the copier but it was the shredder.
• I dropped my iPad in the toilet.
• My Chromebook is sick. It has a virus.

Understandable Issues

• It was International Pancake Day- free pancakes at the IHOP.
• I had a potty battle and I lost!
• I had to get my hair done
• I didn’t want to add to your workload.
• My friend is failing so I gave it to him to use.

• It was raining.
• My brain left my body for a bit.
• I didn’t have time because I had to play with my PlayStation.
• I didn’t want “Sally” to be the only one that didn’t have her homework today.
• I kept thinking about bubblegum.

What’s a Funny Excuse You’ve Heard?

Share this:

For the reason their laptop wasn’t charged for class today a student said, “We don’t have outlets at home.” When in fact I know he does.🙄😂#middleschoolers #alwaysforthelaugh

There’s always an excuse! I don’t get it. Doing my homework when I was a kid wasn’t an option! 🙄

I have to admit: “My Chromebook is sick. It has a virus.” was a very clever one. Wow, such creativity there! Really impressed!

“I seriously had full intentions of doing my homework, but then, I remembered how important you said sleep was.”

I didn’t do it because it was too easy for me..

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