WASHINGTON - In the mid-1970s, mischievous University of Pittsburgh students selectively bred dogs to produce a canine that would eat homework so that school children could truthfully tell their teachers "my dog ate it." The breed, nicknamed "Detention Terrier" for the punishment sometimes meted out to students who fail to do their homework, was widely condemned because of its anti-education proclivities.
But thirty years later scientists are astonished because the breed has evolved into a super sub-species of canine that reads, writes, paints, and composes music.
Some of the dogs enjoy a good cigar, and The New Yorker is their periodical of choice.
Dr. Jingo Bang, who has written extensively about the dogs, isn't surprised by the breed's rapid evolution.
"While other dogs were bred to hunt or to look pretty," Dr. Bang explained, "these little dogs have done nothing but devour homework. Is it any wonder they're brilliant?"
