Day Nine, Tuesday AM

The alarm goes off, and nobody moves. I've been sleeping in the shape of a pretzel all night - as I rub my neck and try to stretch my still sleeping arms & legs, I am asking myself why I ever allowed beagles on the bed???? The puppies are asleep when I come around the corner to make coffee. They wake up and start barking and jumping to make up for being caught off guard. I carefully step over the barricade, but there's hardly any mess. The girls go out first thing in the morning, and then I clean up what mess there is, and bring them back in to feed them, and when they're done, I take them right outside. They seem to be getting the idea. I can tell by the fact that there are fewer messes on the newspaper.

Daisy stands at the front door, waiting for me to take her for a walk. She makes no effort to go near the back door in the morning anymore, because she knows the puppies will be there. I snap on her leash and take her outside for a quick walk around the circle. We come back inside, and now Pam is up with the other residents, getting her coffee. They go outside, and a mad chase begins - Potsy is running across the yard, with the Belles in hot pursuit. Buster brings up the rear, barking his head off. My neighbors LOVE me. We let the residents in and feed them, then they go back outside, except for Daisy. She stays inside, away from the Belles, for her sanity as well as mine. And then, we're off to work.

Day Nine, Tuesday PM

Daisy REALLY doesn't like the pups. Pam came home and let everyone inside, and the pups immediately went after Daisy. She bared her gums and barked her fiercest bark, with no effect (except that she made Pam laugh so hard she almost fell over. I need to get a picture of Daisy doing this.). They chased and chased her until she completely forgot herself and jumped up on the living room couch. She has NEVER done that. We always assumed she COULDN'T do that! She's showing some new found athleticism since the Belles arrived.

Pam rounded up the pups and put them in the kitchen by the time I got home. She fed the resident four, and I fed the puppies. Kibble and pumpkin - they LOVE it! They fight over the bowls, no matter that each has the same thing in it. Tara drives Georgia off her bowl, Georgia drives Dixie off, and so it goes - musical food bowls, until the bowls are empty. And then we go outside for a last run around the yard. Potsy again takes the lead, with the Belles giving chase.

A little TV, and then the Belles are secured in the kitchen for the night, and off to bed the rest of us go!