My Chihuahua is trying to take me out

We share our home with three Maine Coon cats and two dogs: one big Goldendoodle and one Chihuahua. You would think the largest animal in the house would be the greatest threat to my balance. You would be wrong.

The smallest dog creates the biggest obstacle

Our Chihuahua is always in the way. If I am walking, she is at my feet. If I turn, she changes direction. If I pause, she somehow finds the exact spot where my next step needs to land.

I have told Jack more than once that she is trying to take me out. He may think I am joking. I am only mostly joking.

A four-legged moving trip hazard

When you already have to think about balance and where you put your feet, a tiny animal with no respect for personal space adds a whole new level of planning. A cane can help with the floor. It cannot negotiate with a Chihuahua who changes lanes without signaling.

This is the part of living with a chronic illness that rarely makes it into a brochure. Home is not a wide, empty hallway with perfect lighting. Home has pets, laundry baskets, furniture, and something directly behind you every time you try to turn around.

Meanwhile, the giants are not the problem

Three Maine Coon cats take up a respectable amount of house. So does a big Goldendoodle. They are the animals visitors notice first. Then there is the Chihuahua, working quietly at ankle level.

Size has very little to do with the amount of chaos an animal can create. Anyone who has lived with a tiny dog already knows this.

Of course I love her

This story would be much easier if I did not love the little menace. But I do. Our animals are part of the noise, comfort, laughter, and ordinary life of our home. They do not understand chronic illness, and they do not adjust their personalities around it.

In a strange way, that normality is part of what makes them wonderful. The Chihuahua does not see a woman with MS using a cane. She sees her person, a pair of available feet, and another chance to stand in exactly the wrong place.

Humor helps when the house will not cooperate

Some days, the safest response is to stop, find my footing, and wait for the traffic jam to clear. Some days, the only reasonable response is to laugh.

I am not saying our Chihuahua is definitely trying to take me out. I am saying that if she were, her technique would look exactly like this.