Beaumont: I’m confused, Louise. You bring me out to this rocky shore, this amazing slice of nature, and yet you insist on keeping me leashed, hauling me along like a convict trying to escape. What gives?
Me: Nothing ‘gives,’ Beau. I just don’t want you chasing after any sea lions. They’re big.
Beau: And I’m fierce. Ain’t no sea lion gonna get the best of me.
Me: Well… that may be the case, but I’m not taking any chances.
Beau: Ahhh… so it’s all fear-based decisioning.
Me: I prefer to call it ‘safety-first’ decisioning.
Beau: Call it what you want, Louise. It’s still fear dressed up in lamb’s clothing.
Me: And what’s wrong with that?
Beau: Well, Louise… as you so often say, ‘how you do one thing is how you do all things.’ So… the question is, if you’re employing fear-based decisioning when walking with me, where else in your life are you doing the same thing?
Me: Seriously, Beau? ‘Decisioning’ isn’t even a word! If you make up words to suit your reality, where else are you making up a reality to suit your words? (smiles all sweet and innocent ’cause for once, I think I’ve got the last word!)
Beau: Don’t smile so smugly, Louise. You don’t have the last word AND you can’t change the subject and make it all about me. This is about you and your fear-based decisioning. And ps, if ‘decisioning’ isn’t a word, it should be! So tell me, where else does fear keep you shackled to its spiky claws?
Me: Don’t be ridiculous, Beau. Fear doesn’t have claws.
Beau: And don’t be ostreperous, Louise. It’s not about whether fear has claws or not, it’s about where you let fear control you.
Me: I don’t.
Beau: Interesting. You started this whole conversation saying you were afraid a sea lion would get me if you let me off-leash. How is that not letting fear control you?
Me: It’s more that I can’t control you, Beau. That’s the issue.
Beau: And whose issue is that?
Me: Yours?
Beau: (lifting a paw up and pressing it down as if dropping onto a buzzer) Nyyyyyyaaahhhht!
Me: Fine. Mine.
Beau: And why is that?
Me: There is no ‘why,’ Beau. It just is.
Beau: Seriously? You think that’s an answer? “It just is.”? What about, ‘I worry about you chasing after sea lions, Beau, because I am afraid of chasing after my own dreams. What if you catch the sea lion and you become best friends, and then you decide to live in the sea with your buddy, and one day you get caught in a net, and a stranger in a sailboat finds you, untangles you, and takes you home, and you fall in love with her, and I never see you again? You’d be living a dream life in a cabin on a mountainside, roaming free, while I’m stuck here bemoaning the fact I once had the best dog in the world and let him go to the sea lions. My dream of being a dog whisperer would be gone, along with my Beau.’
Me: I never said that.
Beaumont: But you thought it…. C’mon. Fess up. You know it’s true.
Me: Do we have to do this today, Beau? It’s a gorgeous day out, and I know you want to go for a walk. How about we go right now?
Beau: Will you let me swim with the sea lions?
Me: Do you promise to come back?
Beau: Have a little faith, Louise. Have a little faith. And btw, that’s what dreams are made of. Having faith in yourself to let courage draw you out of fear so you can live your dreams… Just sayin’.
Dang, he’s good. All I wanted to do was ensure he didn’t get hurt, and suddenly, he’s turned the tables, and I’m looking for a way to get control back. Oh wait! I’ve never had control of Beau anyway! Why should today be any different? 🙂
Sundays with Beaumont 
Beau is good at turning things around and getting his own way leaving you think what the hell how did that happen, it’s a good thing you love him
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