Veterinary Tech and Bandage Art: An Inside Look with Brian Goleman, CVT

Speaker 1 (00:04.13) Hi, I'm Karen. And I'm Elise. Welcome back to Poodle People, where we talk about all things poodles. Speaker 1 (00:14.776) Brian, it's so nice to have you with me. Good morning. Thank you so much for having me. wonderful. Yeah, I'm pleased to talk to you. So today's guest is Brian Goleman. Brian, I'm going to ask you to tell our audience a little bit about yourself and what you do during your day. Yeah, absolutely. my name is Brian. I'm a licensed veterinary technician at a specialty surgery hospital in Washington, DC. I've been a licensed tech for about eight years now and I work in the specialty department working and specializing in bandages, x rays, kind of those severe complicated cases that your primary care veterinary might not be able to handle in their practice. So they come to us and we just Fix up and take care of them, bandage up, make all pretty and then get them on their road to recovery. Speaker 1 (01:11.448) So is your clinic an emergency clinic or you are the emergency clinic department within the clinic? So our the umbrella of our clinic we have everything. Primary care, specialty surgery, oncology, neurology, dermatology, primary c just the gamut. It's basically the same as a human hospital. Okay. If your if your dog ha or cat has an issue, we have someone who can fix it hopefully. I think that's probably unusual for a lot of areas. We would typically like I'm in Kentucky and we would go to Metropolitan in Cincinnati for that kind of care. I'm guessing it's probably similar to that. Yeah. Okay. Speaker 1 (01:59.71) So I always like to start off by asking about your dogs or your pets. So what do you have at home? So at home I have three dogs. I have a three year old black lab flat coated retriever mix. I have an eight year old little black cattle dog shepherd mix kind of thing. I have a ten year old English Bulldog Beagle mix and then I have a twenty year old medium haired cat domestic medium hair and then I also have two chinchillas. So chinchillas are a new one to me. What is it what is it like to have a chinchilla? They are new to us as well. We just really wanted a small mammal, and just kind of mix it up a bit. and they've been so much fun. They are a lot of work, they are super messy and they poop nonstop. but they're so cute and they're so soft and they're just so unique to anything. Like you don't bathe them like normal, you give dust baths a couple times a week. they just seem to really appreciate all the hard work that you put into them. and it's just great to they're just fun little like cotton balls that are like very fun to play with. And my dogs love them too. They are consistently curious about them, I'll say that. Speaker 1 (03:22.542) And how does your cat like them? she doesn't care. My cat runs the house and she's just like, Ugh another thing that I have to deal with. so she really doesn't ha have too many opinions of it. She just lives her life and no one should get in her way. Gotcha. And she's twenty. She's twenty, yeah. My wife has had her since she was in I don't know, middle school. Well it's and she's doing great. She's perfect. it's har everyone thinks she's like five or six, but in fact she's been on this earth twenty full years. It's awesome. Wow. So what is the life inspectancy of chintillas? Speaker 2 (04:06.712) Chinchillas are actually a while. It's they say it's it's a range. So they say it's about ten to twenty years. is absolutely commitment. You usually when you think of these small mammals, you're thinking like a couple of years, like your gerbils, your rats, your hamsters, that kind of thing. Right. Well we also wanted to make this an investment. So we wanted to buy the big kennel, like give them the best life possible, buy them all their treats, but we wanted it to be a more of an investment, making them like a a bigger pig fixture in our family. yeah, so we're excited to hopefully have them around for a while. Was it I know we're supposed to be talking about your bandages, but I'm fascinated by the chinchillas. Was it hard to find chinchillas and are they expensive to buy? It was not hard to find them. we actually had a rescue near us, like a small mammal rescue that has like rats, guinea pigs, all even some birds they took in. and they're just looking to find homes for these animals 'cause I do think a lot of owners get these animals at like a pets shop and then don't realize how much work they truly are. and so they end up having to give them up. But we were able to find these two little girls who we're looking for their forever home and hopefully we've given that to them. Speaker 1 (05:28.268) And do the chinchillas go outside? They do not, so we'll get them set up in a little play pen, a little play area while we do a deep clean of their cage. But their kennel is like a really big kennel, so they have plenty of space to run around in. But we do like to give them their exercise. They have their their little wheel and we give them as much enrichment as we can without overstimulating them. Nice. Okay, so I've satisfied my chinchilla fix. tell me a little bit about being are you a a lic an L V T or a C V T? I forget. I'm a C I'm a C V T. I'm a certified veterinary tech technician and they're all the same. L V T, C V T, R V T. it just depends on the state legislature and what license what they want to call it, but it's all the same. Okay. And what led you to become a veterinary technician? Speaker 2 (06:25.686) Honestly, I moved up here for my now wife. I we were both zookeepers down in South Carolina together. And then she got a job up in this area and I really liked her. So I decided to move up here without a job. I drove Uber for a couple of months while I kinda got my bearings. I have been known to be a little impulsive. but I yeah, I chopped around, I had an interview at this vet for what I thought was just cleaning cages and then on my first day they handed me a stethoscope and I was going to be an emergency triage technician. So one of the first texts you see w if you bring your dog or cat to the ER where you're grabbing vitals, you're kind of making sure they're stable, letting a doctor know if they need you and then all that kind of stuff. And I really had to learn on my feet. So And then after day one, I just fell in love with it immediately. I loved bonding with the animals. I loved creating those relationships with the owners and kind of being a part of making their super stressful and scary visit a little bit more comforting and trying and kind of talking them through that. I I really got a high off of that. I can totally understand that. I think that the veterinary technician sometimes doesn't get its due. We think of the vet veterinarian, and sometimes we spend more time with the vet tech than we do with the veterinarian. So having that kind of relationship and having someone you can really talk to to get information. Especially in an emergency situation where you might be scared or nervous and not really comprehending what the vet said, the vet tech can really help you. Speaker 2 (08:16.206) Absolutely. It's it is so scary, but on the other side of things, it's absolutely a huge team effort. like you said, with the the veterinarian, you might not see them that much, but that's also they they're seeing like maybe six or seven cases on top of your case. So they're really getting stretched thin and it's our job as the veterinary technicians to kind of just fill in those cracks and make the owners feeling comfortable and making sure that the pets are getting the care and everything that they need that the doctors have ordered. So it's an absolute team effort on both sides and it's those relationships that I'm not only creating with the animals and the owners, but with the vets trusting us and earning that trust is really something special. It really is. I I have gone to the same veterinarian clinic for twenty years and I mean I literally can text my vet. I know them when I call, they know my voice. Having I I think having those relationships is really important and I don't think I've had an opportunity to talk to our audience about that. I I think one of the worst things you can do as a pet owner is a veterinarian shop. You know, like committing to someone and staying with them so that they know your history and they know you is so important to high quality care. Right, and absolutely. Like if you are on the other side of things, like it is important to find a vet that you trust and that you that you believe in because it is a two way street. Like you all a lot of vets are different, like personality wise, treatment wise, like how aggressive they want to be or how passive they wanna be. so it is important to find a vet that works for you, but it is like you said, important to Speaker 2 (10:12.344) kind of instead of bouncing around because that's how like records get confused, your animal can get stressed. Cause another thing is like from the vet's perspective the patient's perspective, it is nice to have a little routine going to the same vet with the same smells, with the same people because from a vet tech's perspective, like we're also getting to know your animal. We're getting to know what it likes, it doesn't like, how to treat it the best. So the more and more repetition that we can get, the practice we can get with your animals is actually better in the long run for your animal as well. Yeah, I totally feel that. I think having a core team that you go to regularly and then for instance I don't use my regular vet for reproduction. I go to someone else. And if I needed something like hydrotherapy or or some new technology that their clinic doesn't offer, I would go somewhere else. I know I had an old older dog years ago and when he was Aging, we did acupuncture and some other modalities with a friend of my vet. so he was happy to send, you know, he doesn't do acupuncture, he doesn't do those alternative things, and this was a while ago. but he was happy to send me to one of his friends who does do those so that my pet would have the best experience he could have. Yeah, and it's also great to hear that a vet is not afraid to send them your pets to other places and be able to provide those recommendations because there are some times where a vet j tries to do everything in house. But it's really great when you ha can trust a vet for those recommendations to really like set up your pet for success. Speaker 1 (12:06.178) I think I have one of the best vets ever. I mean, he's just amazing. Yeah. I mean, he has sent me to other people without ever thinking about it. I I don't think he would attempt to dock tales on my show dogs. You know, that is just not what he does. Right. and I think that's really important. I think owners need to be self educated. I I also think I live in an area where we have a very educated veterinarian population. I'm near Root and Riddle and Haggard Equine and the horse industry is huge here in Lexington, Kentucky, and we have the best vets coming for that. And I think even though my vet is he actually does large animal, not necessarily horses, but he does can do horses. But they do a lot of cattle work. when I had goats they treated my goats. and they do of course all small companion animals. but that kind of environment where you have two of the most important equine hospitals in the world in the same area helps with veteriness. Absolutely. Like the fact that that is such a hub for equine. I also will admit I have not worked with equines yet, but golly, I love horses. I just love being around Like you hit get that smell of hay as soon as you walk near the barn. And just like kind of just there's a buzz in that air that you're just kind of like a deep breath kind of comes over you and you just feel relaxed a little bit more. it's just that one of the best smells in the world is a barn. So like hopefully at some point in my career I get a little more equine experience. Speaker 1 (14:01.122) Will say that being in a barn is one of the best experiences I've had in my life, but it's a very good segue to your bandage business because as an equine owner, I am used to having to bandage my own horse, even though I think my bandaging skills are pretty bad. I don't think I'm great. Dr. Fraley, who was my podiatrist for my horse, was one of the most amazing. bandagers on a horse. I I just thought he was amazing at doing that. And when you think about the critical components of the hoof being supported, you know, the leg being supported with bandaging, that totally makes sense. So I learned a lot from different vets that I work with over my career with horses. But I'd like to talk a little bit about dogs because I think it's something that dog owners don't think about and certainly we at least need to understand what might happen even if the vet or the vet tech is the person putting the bandage on. Yeah, so bandaging on a pet, dog or cat or horse for that matter, it's not a natural thing. The the animal doesn't really know what's going on. They don't want the bandage on their leg. it's can be very stressful for the owner because routines have to change. if it's a like a broken leg or a serious wound, like the pet might not be able to go up certain stairs. They'll have to be activity restricted to a crate or a small room. They're not allowed to jump on the couch and cuddle with the owners like they used to be able to. So it can be a pretty big shock to the routine of an animal. We live in I work in DC. There's a lot of walk ups that in the city where big dogs live on the third floor walk up and so I've had owners have to like figure out how to manage that. They either the pet goes and stays with a Speaker 2 (16:07.88) a family member or a friend or something a little more like accommodating. But it it's a big deal. and so kind of getting an owner more used to what life is going to be like before they leave the hospital is pretty important in my my communication with those owners, just kinda to kinda mentally prepare them for what recovery journey them and their pet is about to go through. so It it can definitely be scary sending an animal home with a bandage. and there's there's definitely can be some complications, like from bandage stores or the bandage falling off or something like that. so just giving them all the mental preparation that they can have before they leave the hospital, and that way if something does come up, it's not a moment of panic, it's a moment of, we talked about this, this is what I need to do right now. So do you think that most people have or do most clinics have skills or so let me back up. you also train. So you obviously see a gap in knowledge. Can you talk a little bit about how that came about and what gaps you see in that tech knowledge? Absolutely. so when I first tr started training on bandages and practicing bandages, I like looked to see if I can find stuff online, like videos and stuff like that. and there were some, but in my experience there weren't it wasn't in depth enough because at my clinic we the rate that we were bandaging we're seeing like four or five bandages a day. and so I was doing a lot of them and I was like, Since I'm doing so many of them, I want to know as much as I can about them. And so after doing them and like they were they were in my opinions good bandages, like things were being healed, they were having minor complications like as minor complications as we can get. Owners seemed happy, doctors seemed happy, but I still that wasn't good enough for me. I wanted to know more. I wanted to learn more. And then what I was finding is like on the internet. Speaker 2 (18:26.112) everything was pretty basic. And I think that the reason behind that was most practices, your smaller general practice, all like the smaller primary cares, they don't see bandages that much. They really don't. they probably see maybe like one or two a month. And so and even then you're changing them like once a week or and then they're healed. So you're really not getting too much repetitive practice on them. And so usually in practices they either have like one person as the bandage person, because they they want it done correctly and they don't want to deal with the like the trials and tribulations of training someone new of like potentially something slipping or getting a bandage sore or something like that. So they usually have just one person doing it and It just kind of is what it is in the vet field because you also don't have time to practice on like a stuffed animal or your own pet because you're dealing with five, ten, fifteen other other patients. So it kind of is just like one of those situations where it's it's a complicated procedure. It can be. and it's usually left they kind of just send it to a specialty place or they just end up like one person does it in the hospital. So there's not a lot of like ease for practicing or training in the hospital setting. I see. So what are some of the difficult areas to bandage? What is what are some of the challenges between say front leg, hind leg, or, you know, belly shoulder kind of things? Speaker 2 (20:13.376) Yeah, absolutely. So the front leg is probably the easiest. It's straight up and down, you know, there's not really too many bends to it. The hind leg is more difficult because it does go at that ninety degree angle right at that hock. so it's important to make sure that the patient's not getting slippage or bunching, because pressure points are a big part of bandaging. So if you have too much pressure on one spot or too much irritation, it will just continuously rub. And they will get a sore right there. So dealing with that a that angle can be difficult. as far as the body goes, we do a different kind of bandage for those. It's called a tie-over bandage. And that's a more local that's a more localized bandage for a a part where you can't bandage just the leg or the limb. so I will say that the two ends of the animal are often pretty difficult. The head because they're not really sh like for ears, they're not really shaped to hold a bandage up. It's skinny on either side and then fat in the middle, so it's easy to slip one way or another. and then the tail, obviously, tail's wagging, constant movement, it's hard to bandage that and get it to stay on. But even if I I don't feel comfortable bandaging something, like an ear or the tail keeps slipping off, they make products now that assist in that that have velcro and that have like full body straps to keep the tail bandage on. Like so the veterinary world is constantly evolving to be able to accommodate our stresses and things that we find pretty difficult. Yeah, I think there is definitely an influx in new products that assist and seeing that surge of new products really is encouraging because we can let our animals resume them the best life that they possibly can while they're recovering. Speaker 2 (22:15.286) Yeah, and it just it just eases the stress on the owner and even the vet staff as well. It's never fun constantly having to like rebandage something daily because the dog shakes his head and the head bandage comes off. Like now there's like products with Velcro and everything that kinda just make that a little easier and just they can recover at home instead of having to come to the vet every day. Yeah, yeah, no, I love that. So how do you deliver your training? Is it virtual or do you do workshops as well? So it started off as just virtual. So this was a project I started during COVID. it literally just started as me putting pictures on the internet on my Facebook page and people really seemed to think they were pretty. they liked the content I was making. And so then I kinda just branched out and started making videos and started a video library. And then I started adding virtual Zoom lunch and learns this past year. I designed some presentations that people seem to really like. And then now it's starting to grow and grow further to now I'm this year I think I'm set up to present at like s six different conferences so far. so it is it it is growing pretty quickly and I am happy that I'm able to s kind of spread my ability and my reach to teaching 'cause I've helped dog rescues in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Slovenia, even to help like with their severe bandage cases that they haven't worked with before. wow. So just being able to like help with that. Like my wife will come down in the morning and it'll be at 5 30. We're getting ready for work and I'm on the couch, like just furiously texting away and she's like, What are you doing this early? I'm like Speaker 2 (24:07.616) there's a wound in Afghanistan that I'm trying to help with. And she's like, That's really cool. I was like, It is really cool. Like So I it is I it is hard. I never imagined I'd be in this spot. but once I get that final picture of a patient that is fully healed and I get to see how happy they are and the owners are and I get to hear all that feedback, it's the most rewarding thing in the world. I can imagine. I mean it just seems amazing that you can help people. I think whenever you can help about an animal you care about, even if it's not the individual animal that you know, that is such a rewarding feeling. Yeah, and it's also it's like even further than that, it's rewarding to see people become comfortable and confident in bandaging as well. Because it can be nerve wracking. You're basically being responsible. Like what you're doing right now is helping this animal heal and helping these owners heal as well. So to be able to like take a picture, like I love it when I do a lunch and learn and then a couple weeks later I ha get a picture and be like, Look at this bandage I did and I'm just like that. Amazing. Like, congratulations. I really hope this this pet is like appreciative of all the hard work you're putting in. Like, just getting those texts is unbelievable. And I'm sure that there's a huge ripple effect. You you know, in five years from now, you'll look back on this and you'll see that you trained one person who trained another person who trained another person, which is so exciting. Speaker 2 (25:38.796) Yeah, I am just so grateful like to be in this position that I am to be able to like bring this side to the vet med world. and then c talking about the ripple effect, just like I eventually want to r like expand to like an owner's site. So like owners who have bandi pets with bandages, they can come to my site and get like reassurance and kind of like know what to expect or maybe I can answer questions for them for their bandage, their pets bandage, because it bandaging is hard because when you have a pet with like a broken leg or a serious wound, you the owner doesn't really see what's going on, really. They don't know what's going on because it's covered by a bandage, right? Right so it Just so I can give them like a kind of a peek into what's going on underneath the surface. maybe just be a r a further resource for them is something that I I I never want an owner to be scared when they when their pets have a bandage. So if I can be a resource in any way, shape or form, I would love to be able to provide that for them. And the level of stress that an owner feels is really high. You know, it just it is. Even when you're experienced, the stress is there. Absolutely. it's one, expensive. You know, it just it just is what it is. You have to pay for the bandage, you have to pay for the wound care, you have to pay for the surgery to fix the fracture. Like it's it's gonna be expensive. and then on top of that, you're truly scared and worried about your family member, your your your pet. And a lot of us who have pets will do anything that we can for them. and so if I can do anything to make Speaker 2 (27:32.024) their experience a little better, a little smoother, a little more comforting. I'm gonna do everything I can to do that. One story, I had this owner who is coming. Their their pet had a broken leg, so they had to come often for bandage changes. I their four year old kid ran up to me and like wanted to show off his new shoes. And so he said, Look and he showed me his new they were like I remember they were r navy blue Nike shoes. And so I took the dog did the bandage change and I put on a navy blue bandage and I made a Nike swoosh and I put it on the bandage. And so the pet matched the the pet's bandage matched the kid's shoes. And that was just the coolest experience. That owner was so grateful. The kid thought it was the coolest thing and it was just a super ex like fulfilling moment for me just to be a part of that. It's not really like a recovery. It's more of like a journey that they're going through. I always try and look at like collars, patients' collars, see if like they have like a sports team or like a certain like color of their harness to match them. Just kinda like that to kind of just make their like recovery a little less medical and a little more like designer flair fashion. That's so sweet. So what of your art has been the most popular? so yeah, I love putting bandage art on. owners love the sports teams ones. like if a team is in the playoffs, I'll try and like gear towards that. seasonal Christmas, fourth of July, fireworks, snowflakes, Thanksgiving turkey, just kinda like whatever is the current hotness is what I try and be a little relevant for. But also like they love a band aid. Speaker 2 (29:26.934) Like a little band aid on a bandage just to kind of let everyone know that they're okay, they're healing. That's nice. So just a little whimsical. I love that. Yeah, absolutely. so tell me a little bit about leeches which you have on your website and I've only known leeches to be used by podiatrists generally. my vet might be using leeches and I just don't know about it, but I'm totally fascinated. Yeah, I am also fascinated with leeches. I we got them for a wound case where the patient's leg after surgery just kind of swelled up and got really big. and what leeches do is just like they did way back in the day when they were first used for medical care, they drain, they basically attach to the patient and they bite a little hole in and they Speaker 2 (30:25.602) They drain the blood and they take the blood out, but they're also adding an anticoagulant s substance in their saliva to the patient and that lets it basically bloodlet and it'll drain over the next like twelve to twenty four hours and basically allow that leg to like get rid of the bad fluid, get rid of the reason for the swelling, and it's been honestly like we've seen great results. from it. Like dogs are very prone to al hematomas, so they're when they shake their ears a lot, they can burst a blood vessel and their ear can swell up. leeches are amazing for that. It creates a very small hole that won't leave a scar and then it'll let the hematoma drain for twelve to twenty four hours and then it'll just heal on its own. I love learning that they have an anticoagulant that they inject an anticoagulant. I thought they just made a hole. Right. Yeah, it it it it's it just keeps it from clotting because if you just created a small hole and then just kinda let it open, it would eventually clot, just like if we had like a little scrape as well. So the anticoagulant features allows it to continuously drain to get rid of all that bad stuff until it's the anticoagulant runs out and then it just can heal on its own and clot over. That's fascinating. So do you do you maintain the leeches at your clinic? Speaker 2 (31:56.216) So I did. So when you buy them, you buy a bunch of them. like we I think we bought like a pack pack of ten of them. And once you're only supposed to use them once because technic they only I could go on and on about leeches. leeches only eat w once or twice a year, which is absolutely fascinating. so once you use them, typically you're supposed to euthanize them. just because they are technically biohazard, like if they're consuming your blood. So you're not supposed to transfer one leech to another patient. And plus they only do it like once or twice a year, so they won't be ready to use for a while. So typically they just euthanize them. I was not about to do that, because I am who I am. I instead went used them, then went to Pet Smart. and bought an absurd amount of tank, rocks, foliage, little pineapple, SpongeBob, pineapple huts, treasure chests, pirate ships, and I let them retire into this giant tank that I bought. so it and then I just wanted to learn about them. I wanted like they're such a unique animal that it's like everything about them is different and weird. And so I just thought that they were cool. so I kept them until they passed. And I unfortunately I don't have any right now. But I kept a couple of them for like three years. and so it was just a cool thing to just have. And everyone's grossed out about them until they learn more and then they just get excited about them. So No, they're pretty fascinating. Speaker 2 (33:51.682) Yeah, so they some fun facts is that they have thirty two brains. Yeah. They have like they're just such a weird animal that they have each like nerve cord that they have. there's a brain on the end of each one. It's not just like us where we have like one nerve cord and there's a brain one brain. They have thirty two brains, I think ten stomachs. Wait, what? Yeah. Speaker 1 (34:19.095) Wild. And and they're also hermaphroditic, like they're just kind of like their own thing. Look how how big is each one? so they do when they gorge themselves, they do get bigger. but they're about like I don't know, like a couple like an inch or two. They have different spe they have different species of them. but yeah, just a couple of couple of inches. That is amazing. And what even though they only eat once a year, how did you actually feed them? Speaker 2 (34:52.088) So I would go to a local butcher shop and I would get like liver or something. it's it's tough because some they became picky, like some only wanted off of a patient. And so unfortunately those w those ones like they I think ended up passing. they didn't have anything for them to eat. But a lot of them like they just liked beef liver. Okay, that's so funny that you had picky leeches. I'm sitting there on the table just like, Why won't you eat my leeches? And I ended up naming them and it became a people probably thought I was weird, but I didn't care. Speaker 1 (35:36.054) You know, I think if you really are interested in veterinary care, there are a lot of really weird things that you can find fascinating. I follow so many veterin accounts. and sometimes every once in a while I'm grossed out by something, but very rarely. Yeah it's usually fascinating. Yeah, it's the vet world is a it's it's its own thing, although And if you're not interested in, you know, the weird ways that a body, whether it's human, dog, horse, how it works, it might not be for you, but obviously you demonstrate beautifully how many ways a career in animals can go. Yeah, yeah. It's been really fun just trying to navigate all this new like I never thought of myself as like techie or anything like that, but I I I basically have an idea of something I wanna do and then I figure out how to make that happen. and that has taught me so many new skills, has introduced me to so many amazing people in this world, in this field. And then just kind of allowed me to kind of branch out and try new things is w which is what I am always seeking to do. Speaker 1 (37:00.174) Are there any other products or ideas you have in your brain or are you kind of satisfied right now with what you're doing? I don't think I'll ever be satisfied, to be honest. I just love exploring and I love trying new things. this year I've never been to a vet conference and I'm going to six this year. so I'm always down to push my limits and learn new things. and just kind of like with the internet it's constantly growing. There's always these new products and new features out there to kind of like challenge my the creativeness of my brain to try and like come up with something new. So I don't think I'll ever be satisfied, but I l I am thoroughly excited for the direction that I'm going in. Yeah, it sounds really fantastic, exciting, all of those things. there's one other thing that you do that we haven't talked about, and that's your children's book. Would you like to tell us a little bit about how that came about? Yeah, so recently I wrote a children's book. I have eight nephews and no nieces. so whenever I go home or go to visit my family and friends, I always see that they have like tons of these books. And I always thought it'd be really cool to be a part of that and like have them fall in love with a book that I wrote them and so it's like Speaker 2 (38:31.286) as a tribute to them, I kind of came up with a story that is based on a true story of my own life, where it's called The Boy Who Bandages. And when I was younger, I got in a bad accident and I needed a bandage, a cast on my leg for a couple of months. And I was only four years old and I don't really remember a lot about it, 'cause that it was so long ago. But what I do remember is my bandage had The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on it. And that made me so excited. And it just made like I thought I was the coolest thing. It gave my like superpowers. and I thought all these cool things. And just recently, about a year ago, I it almost like clicked into my head as to maybe that's why I like bandaging and why I like doing what I do. Because like if something is so small and simple as a teenage mutant ninja turtle bandage, Mm-hmm. Speaker 2 (39:29.856) is the only thing I remember from when I was four years old through like a traumatic injury. Like just the power of that kind of like ability to turn a negative situation into a positive really like clicked with me of like what I'm doing and like how important what I'm doing can be. And so I wrote a children's book that kind of goes through that beginnings. And then it actually talks about patients that I've seen throughout my career and I've helped out. So it's just about me through that that journey, getting a job, getting l meeting these patients and these pets, these cute cats and dogs, and then just kind of like summarizing it and how special like one moment can kind of like turn into this whole career choice and this experience to where you're really like able to help. animals, people. I don't know. I like it. I've gotten some good feedback on it. Yeah. It was so much fun to make. Love it. Speaker 1 (40:32.386) Did you work with an illustrator? I did. I scou I I I know that with children's books, the illustration's like one of the most important parts. Right. So I really like it took me a while to find one that I was comfortable with and that I really like I really liked and that we kinda worked together on it. and he was amazing. He was absolutely unbelievable. He brought what images were in my head to the paper. that was That was r once I got my printed copy it like I I like teared up. Like it was just such a cool experience. I bet. So if people want to buy it, what age group is it recommended for? It's currently recommended three to eight, three to nine, something like that. it's definitely like probably more on the younger side. but it's it's very simple read. eventually they'll be able to read it on their own, probably around like the four or five like the five or six. but it's bright colors, it's got cute animals, like you can't l not love it. Speaker 1 (41:42.146) Really is darling. the the illustrator really did a nice job bringing your ideas to the audience. It it is so charming. Yeah, and he made me look way better than I actually am. So like I kudos to him for sure. Well I'm glad you're happy with it. I think that the dogs and cats are probably the stars. Absolutely. They make they I pale in comparison to them. They're just so cute. And and I also I wanted to make it so it wasn't adults bringing their pati their pets in. It was the kids bringing their pets in because I want them to not think of the vet as a scary place that their pet goes to be poked and prodded and everything like that. I want them at a young age to be comfortable with the vet that we are here Yeah. Speaker 2 (42:36.674) To take care of their pets and we love their pets just like they do and we want them to be safe just like they do. So it's available how? How do people get the book? It is currently on Amazon, so just search the boy who bandages on Amazon and as as far as I know it's the only thing that pops up. So but I it's also featured on my website that just brings you to a link on Amazon, but the website is Brian's Bandages dot com. Fantastic. so if veterinary clinics are interested in booking you for a lunch and learn, they should also go to Briansbandages dot com. Yep, you can reach out to me on any form of socials, Facebook, Instagram, anything like that. And but also, yeah, all of my information is on BrianSbandages dot com, as well as if they wanted to buy like bandage art, lunch and learns, or even we talked earlier about like products. I do have a site about all the recommended products that I I truly believe in and throw myself behind. Speaker 1 (43:39.808) Excellent. Well, I am so glad that you had time to talk to me today. It has really been a joy to listen to your story and see how this really wonderful little business just came from the Mutant Ninja Turtles. And I love I really love showing people that they can expand their idea of what a career with animals can be. It's not just being a vet. Right. It it's there's so much more. You could go into pharmaceuticals, you can go into lab work, you can go into the hands on of a vet tech or the vet. but then from there there's just so many other branches that you can explore and it's like it's been extremely ex satisfying like finding all these like finding and meeting all these people who have found their niche, found their like their calling almost, and being able to talk through their journeys with them and I'm I'm sure you know like you do this for a living where you talk talk to people about their experiences. It is truly just rewarding as another human being, like seeing someone so excited to be in their what they're meant to do. It's so it's so cool. Yeah, it it really I I love hearing your entrepreneurial spirit come through because the veterinary world has opportunity like this. and I think you've done a great job in filling this important niche. So thank you so much for joining me today to talk to our audience about this. Thank you so much. I I love talking about this stuff with all of you guys. and just thank you so much for having me. This has been so much fun. Speaker 1 (45:27.414) It's my pleasure. Thanks. Speaker 1 (45:33.27) Mm. Thanks for listening and remember a poodle will change your life. Speaker 1 (45:44.376) Hey, thanks for making it to the end of the podcast. Just a few details. If you have any feedback or questions, you can email poodlepeoplepodcast at gmail.com. You can also leave feedback on Spotify or Apple, and we will read those messages. You can message me on Instagram either under the Poodle People Podcast handle or my personal handle, strong contestant no-o. And feel free to visit my website, Scotch Corner Standardpoodles dot com. You can see pictures of my dogs, my breeding program, my current litter, and you can find the link to my application on gooddog.com if you are interested in a puppy. Speaker 1 (46:36.514) Thanks for listening to this episode of Poodle People. See ya next week.