LOVINGTON - Here's a switch: Instead of the dog that ate your homework, meet the number-crunching hound who can do your homework.

Sir Dave Golden Boy is a golden retriever who solves math problems. From simple addition to 55 divided by the square root of 121, there are no arithmetical tricks you can't teach this 7-year-old pooch. Known to his fans as "Dave the Math Dog," the wondrous beastie trotted into Lovington's The Revival Church on Sunday morning like an ambassador from the Planet Dog, sent to reveal that's man's best friend ain't no dumb animal.

He solved problems ranging from 4 + 6 to 4 x 6 and then 24 minus (2 to the third power) + 8 (the answer is 8, if you are struggling at home). Dave is shown the questions written out on a board and then uses his paw to tap out answers on the outstretched palm of owners Frank and Debra Ferris of Lerna. The dog has done his act on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and entertained at schools and all kinds of special events.

Skeptics would have a field day, saying that not only must you accept the fact a dog can do math, but that he can read equations, too, and therefore it has to be an elaborate trick. But it's hard to be so cynically calculating when watching Dave figuring doggedly with no props or obvious sleight of paw.

The Revival Church's Pastor, the Rev. Jill Walker, wanted her congregation of 20 to see it all for themselves because she believes Dave is God's instrument, and it's not the first time the Divine has intervened through animals. Walker brings up the example of the talking donkey in Numbers that was beaten while saving its master, Balaam, from an encounter with a homicidal angel.

"I think dogs like Dave are sent to get our attention," said Walker. "It's a unique way of exposing the mighty handiwork of God."

And it seemed to be working. "That dog is awesome and an example of God showing us his omnipotence and omnipresence in all things," said congregation member Donna Johnstone, 40, who lives in Decatur. "You see dogs in a whole new light."

And yet even Dave, whose abilities were discovered when he was 5, can't live forever. But when his number's up, they'll be at least seven more left to carry on, thanks to a batch of recent puppies, of which his owners have claimed one. "We don't know if the math will be there this time," said Debra, 54.

"Dave could just be one of a kind."

Tony Reid can be reached at treid@herald-review.com or 421-7977.