Growing up, I’ve ALWAYS been surrounded by animals. My grandmother used to own a pet store and well after she sold it, she still had monkeys, a skunk, a couple prairie dogs, and a variety of reptiles. In retrospect, it was a very unique childhood! Most of my pet experience lies with dogs and cats. I have worked at an animal shelter, worked in dog behavioral training, and have been surrounded by dogs and cats my whole life! My parents always had at least 2 dogs and 1 cat in our house at a time. When I was 5 and after our first dog Bailey passed, I was allowed to get a pup of my own. We adopted my best friend Emmy! I have a lot of pictures posted with her. I raised and trained her myself, learning all that it takes to take care of a puppy. I was with Emmy at every stage of her life, she taught me a lot. She had terrible allergies to some food dyes and to a lot of different insect stings, I always had to watch what she was “getting into.” When I was in high school, Emmy had developed a tumor behind her eye. She helped me to become familiar with giving medication and taking things easy post-surgery. While I helped our other family pets in caretaking, Emmy was my responsibility. She taught me how to love animals and how to properly care for them!