Puppies or Kittens

If you were to ask me this question a few years ago I probably would have had a completely different answer compared to what I'm about to tell you.

But I love both puppies and kittens, like seriously both of these animals are too cute. 

I have been an animal lover since the day I stepped foot on my great Uncle Walt's ranch in Iowa.  He owned a bunch of farm animals and most importantly horses. I have loved horses since that day when I got to sit on the saddle with him and canter around the paddock as a 2 year old. He told my dad that he was shocked that I wasn't scared. I'm surprised that I wasn't but at the same time I'm not surprised, I have always been naturally very good with horses. Horses are amazing creatures,  I loved the way their hoofs sounded as the clipped the ground; and that's how I came up with the name gallopaddies  (gall-up-uh-deez). I was a strange child. I didn't call them horses I called them gallopaddies. I used to take all of the millions of toy horses that I owned and create my own imaginary horse ranch and stomp their legs all over my basement floor. They were my favorite animal and still are to this day.

My whole life my parents have had to deal with me being over obsessive about animals. Every time my parents and I would go on walks around the neighborhood I would always run and stop the couple ahead of us and ask if I could pet their dog. Yep, I was that kid. Thank goodness we moved to a different neighborhood when I was about 6 years old and all of our new neighbors had dogs. I was in heaven. That's when I knew I was a puppy and doggy girl, but need I remind you I was a very experienced and avid horseback rider by the time I was 6 years old. Usually that's the age instructors allow kids to start lessons, but I met Happy, a white Quarter horse when I was 4 and the owner offered to give me lessons and that's when I fell in love. I became such a responsible and smart girl at such a young age learning how to feed, groom, and muck the horses stalls.

Writing about animals and horse makes me miss Peaches, Apache and Manchie a lot, these horses were my babies. The day I met Peaches was probably the best day of my life. She was officially mine, and I seriously loved her more than anything in the world. Peaches knew I was special and different, and I knew she was different too. She could recognize my voice out of all the people that would walk through that barn. Nobody could train her or ride her like I could because she was too stubborn, but I was so gentle and patient with her that my instructor couldn't help but make Peaches mine. I had Peaches in my life for about 8 years, until she passed away this past summer. I was devastated but I didn't own her anymore I only owned peaches for 4 like years while I was young and once I moved to high school I had to give her to a new family who had a young girl who was just like me, passionate and loving. 

When we finally moved out of that cramped neighborhood and into the beautiful open land of Huntertown, Indiana I got to experience even more encounters with two different amazing horses. Manchie and Apache. Apache belonged to the girl down the road and Manchie was the paint horse at 8 Jumps, where Peaches was being boarded. I got to spend time with all of these horses and felt lucky to be living in Huntertown.

Because we lived on great property my parents thought it'd be appropriate to buy Baxter. A landseer Newfoundland. He was the cutest puppy ever! And was my first puppy ever! This dog pretty much changed my life. We had plenty of animals around the house. After we brought our adorable puppy home, two precious kittens followed. Before we got Sophie and Timmy I never really cared for cats. But after bottle feeding them and training them to be barn kitties we really bonded and they started to mimic Baxter's mannerisms and acted a lot like dogs. That was okay with me because I definitely still prefer puppies over kittens. However being the broke and busy college student that I am, I can only manage to have a cat. And he in fact is absolutely adorable and I love him so much.

This past summer I got a new puppy after Baxter passed away. My parents and I were both scared that our new puppy wasn't going to be a as great as our old dog. Houston our current 130 pound 8 month old Saint Bernard puppy had big shoes to fill. However he is quickly growing and about to pass Baxter's height and weight. And we realized that he and Baxter are both special dogs and we love them both the same. But Baxter will always have a special place in my heart. He was my first dog and my first best friend and I woke up every morning to take him on property walks in the snow. When Baxter died I was absolutely devastated, my parents thought he was going to die before I came home for Christmas break but when I got home it was like the cancer didn't even exist. He cuddled with me and played outside with me like he did when he was a puppy. Saying goodbye to Baxter last winter was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Baxter had the same birthday as my papa, and looked just like his Saint Bernard Lucy. There had to be a coincidence, because he acted like my guardian angel. This is going to sound cheesy but at least I know both my guardian angels are in heaven playing together and taking care of me.

This past summer when I came home to the baby Saint Bernard,  Houston I cried out of tears of joy and I got the pleasure of sleeping with him at night and practically raising him . I was so sad when I had to leave home again right after getting Houston. So when I got to Salt Lake City, I grew a pair and went out and bought a kitten for $20. I named him Frank. I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to love him as much as my other pets and animals but I was wrong. Raising Frank has been a blast and almost losing him made me realize how much I do love him.

So this puppies or kittens question is sort of tough because I would be absolutely content with both. :)