PAUL'S POOCH PROBLEM

"American Idol" judge PAULA ABDUL, who lives in a woodsy LA canyon, let teeny doggie Thumbelina out for a prebeddy- bye tinkle, went back inside to don HER nighty-nights - then peeked out a window and SCREAMED when she spotted a slavering coyote about to pounce on her pet! Grabbing a towel, Paula burst through the French doors into the backyard, shrieking at the top of her lungs. Waving the towel like a mad toreador, the wack-a-doodle warbler charged straight at the creeped-out coyote - which instantly high-tailed it back through the hole it had dug under her fence as Paula snagged Thumbelina and ran inside, heart pumping like an "Idol" contestant facing SIMON COWELL.