Over the past week, I have got to enjoy the company of the Beagle and two other dogs. It’s called dogsitting and friends suffer through it for friends all the time.

The dogs are having a blast, however, and it reminds me how much dogs love to be in packs. But I don’t think their love of packs has a damn thing to do with their wolf ancestry. Their love of being in pack boils down to two words: Plausible deniability.

Who knocked over the bathroom trash basket? Who knocked over the guest bathroom trash basket? How about the one in the master bath? Who keeps dropping the super-absorbent towels into the water bowl and sucking up all of the water from the other two dogs? Who has been digging in the yard and why is my shoe torn up?

Larry, Curly and Moe, I mean, the dogs, are having a terrific time, romping through the house and rolling around in blamelessness. And me, I am realizing that three dog translates into about nine times the work. Call it Stooge math.

“Why soitanly!   Nyuck nyuck!”