Meg earns her PhD about a breed of dog (6,8)
I believe the answer is:
german shepherd
'dog' is the definition.
(German shepherd is an example)
'meg earns her phd about' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates an anagram.
'meg'+'earns'+'her'+'phd'='megearnsherphd'
'megearnsherphd' with letters rearranged gives 'GERMAN SHEPHERD'.
'a breed of' is the link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for german shepherd that I've seen before include "one wearing dog collar?" , "Alsatian" .)