In which I learn what I've been missing. I should be careful what I wish for! The girls have shredded every piece of newspaper, pulled the towels through the water dishes, puddles, and stomped repeatedly through piles of goo. Now, this feels like Beagle Camp! I scoop them up one at a time - Georgia does NOT like it if Tara is scooped up first, and Dixie does not like it if she's not scooped up first. I picked up Julep, first, which is how I discovered the "pick-up pecking order". Outside they go while I clean up what remains of the drop cloth and newspapers. I spread a new dropcloth and new newspapers - a process that takes about 25 minutes. I rearrange the crates and get fresh towels, and then go get the girls. I open the back door and am immediately flattened by eight flying beagles. I forgot about the resident four. I round up the puppies and put them in the kitchen. I feed them, again careful to put Tara in the crate so she eats her food and doesn't run the others off theirs. Tara doesn't mind being in the crate as long as she's eating, but one minute longer and she howls with a piercing quality that hurts both ears AND hearts! I can't let her out until ALL the food is gone though. And given that the girls are NOT the vultures that I expected them to be, the process of eating can take several minutes.

Once they eat, I bring them all outside again for a little while. I occurs to me that the pups have not yet seen the back yard in broad daylight. But, the weekend is coming. They run around for a little while, and then I bring them back inside, and into the kitchen. They settle down and start playing - rolling around, singing, nipping.. the typical play noises. So, I settle down to watch TV. The phone rings, several times and each time I pick up a puppy to snuggle while I talk. Phone calls finished, I return the pup to the kitchen. And then the ripping noise starts. I figured it can't be too bad, because there's no "fight to the death" noises going on. Well, within a few minutes, the fight to the death noises start. I get up to check on them. I need to separate them. Daisy and the other resident beagles start barking at the noise the girls are making, (eight beagles barking for all they're worth -it's quite a sound) I step over the barricade, realizing I have no shoes on. My feet are fair game. I separated Julep and Georgia from the action, but couldn't get Dixie and Tara apart - I finally forced them apart with my hand wrapped in a towel. I wash the saliva off each of them, and then, they all licked each other's wounds and settled down in a pile in the big crate. Go figure. And what a mess they created. In that short span of time where I sat down to watch TV, the girls made confetti of the newspaper AND the drop cloth underneath. The mess is ankle deep. And soggy from where the water bowls were upset during the fighting. It reminds me of what happens to those dehydrated noodles when you add water and heat.

The bare floor is exposed and it has goo and puddles on it. Sigh. I have to make a run to Wal-Mart for plastic, with a stop at the 7-11 for newspapers. The clerk comments on the number of papers I'm buying - "you're either moving or you like to read" - I looked at him and said "puppies" - he laughed. So, I get home, move the barricade, and slide the sleeping Belles out of the mess, and for the SECOND time tonight, I clean up the mess. I make a mental note to get the contractor size garbage bags. These tall kitchen can bags just aren't a match for four beagle puppies! I spread the heavy duty plastic on the floor and tape it into place, then spread the newspapers. I hear the occasional growl from the crate as I work. Buster comes into the kitchen to check on the progress I'm making with the plastic. There's a noise outside, and he starts barking and running, but he can't get any traction on the plastic. He trips, still barking, skids, sends pages of newspaper flying, and rolls his way to the back door, and he and the other residents go outside to check things out. I finish spreading the newspapers, bring the resident four in and bring the Belles back into the kitchen, put the other crate back, and put the barricade up. I open the crate, and the girls don't move. I put the towels over the crate, and they're out for the night. I go in search of a blanket, because again, I am the last one to bed, and I know there will be no covers for me.