I worked my way backwards from my favorite series: Assassins Apprentice (Realm of the Elderlings) and found that the path to this series is WAY off!
"Animals more your thing?" - NO!?!?!
The main character has the deepest relationship with animals I've ever read.
"Looking for an old-fashioned Trilogy?" - YES!?!?!?spoiler
He literally has a form of animal telepathy.
The series is 16 books long. If you want to make the argument that only the Fitz books count, there are nine of them...