Pet Tattoos: Tribute, Celebration, or Something More?

Episode Title: Thinking About a Pet Tattoo? It’s Deeper Than Ink
Host: Amy Castro :  
Guest: Bailey Hyde

Summary:
Why do people get tattoos of their pets, and what do those tattoos really represent? In this episode, Amy Castro :   talks with tattoo artist Bailey Hyde of Ink Therapy about the meaning behind pet tattoos, the emotional decisions that go into them, and what pet owners should think through before making something permanent. From symbolic designs to detailed portraits, this conversation explores how people choose to honor the animals that matter most in their lives.

Links:
Show: https://petparenthotline.com

Guest: https://inktherapyabi.com

Consults: https://petparenthotline.com/consultAmy Castro :  : 00:00


Transcript: 

Amy Castro :  : Some people get tattoos of their pets while they're still alive. Others wait until they're gone. Some want a full portrait, others choose a paw print or a nose print, or even the exact spot where their pet used to rest their head. So, what makes a pet tattoo feel meaningful? And what should you think through before you get one? You've reached the pet parent hotline, your lifeline, practical solutions for your toughest pet parenting challenges. I'm your host, Amy Castro :  , and I'm here to help you cut through the noise and turn expert advice into step-by-step strategies so you can stop chasing your tail and start enjoying life with pets again. If you found this episode because you're thinking about getting a tattoo of your pet, or you already have one and you know just how much it means to you, you're in the right place. Today we're talking about why people get tattoos of their pets, what those tattoos can represent for them, and the emotional pros and cons that most people don't even think about before they do it. Because this isn't really just about ink. It's about attachment, memory, identity, and the bond that people have with their pets. So to help us navigate these questions, today I'm joined by Bailey Hyde, owner of Ink Therapy Abilene in Abilene, Texas. Bailey is not only a tattoo artist, she also has a master's degree in psychology, which gives her a really unique perspective on the emotional side of why people choose the tattoos that they do. She's worked with people who are celebrating pets that are still very much a part of their lives, and others who are trying to honor pets they've lost, sometimes in the middle of their grief. So, Bailey, I'm really glad that you're here for this conversation. Welcome to the show. Welcome. I'm happy to be here. Good. Glad to have you. And uh I know this is gonna be an interesting topic for us to do. So, how did you get started doing tattoos?

Bailey Hyde: 01:59
I guess it's kind of funny because I have my master's degree in psychology, so it was definitely not the thing that I thought I was going to be with my life. That being said, I had a cousin that was a piercer  in a tattoo shop, I got to see the work that she was doing, got to see the environment. And then when I started getting tattoos, funny enough, the one that I got for my own pet is what drew me to the tattoo shop that I ended up getting my apprenticeship at. So that's kind of how that started. Yeah.

Amy Castro :  : 02:24
That's really interesting, especially that it started with your own pet tattoo. I've always been fascinated by what people get, why they get it, where they choose to get it, what are they trying to say with it. But I'd never thought about doing a tattoo of my pet or an animal, and I'm a huge animal person, but why what do you think draws people to getting tattoos of their pets?

Bailey Hyde 02:48
So I think speaking from personal experience anyway, I, as I've mentioned, have a tattoo, a fairly large tattoo of my Corgi that I have, and I tell everyone all the time I love her more than I love most people. Um, I certainly love her more than I love myself. So for me, it was more so um a thought process of I love her, she brings me joy, I think she's beautiful. Um, so I wanted to be able to have a piece of her on me forever that I can just look down at all the time and see, oh, there she is, or it starts a conversation and I get a chance to talk about her. So from personal experience, that's sort of my motivation. I feel like for a lot of my clients, it's something similar. It's they love their pet, they have a bond with their pet, it's something that um they obviously feel very strongly about. So for them, it's a motivation of wanting to be able to carry that with them wherever they go. Obviously, you can't take your pet absolutely everywhere, but it's a nice either reminder to have that with you or something where, you know, again, in my instance, I will take any chance I can to talk about how wonderful my dog is. So if someone sees my corgi tattoo and they're like, oh my gosh, I have a corgi, or oh my gosh, that's so cute, then it gives me all the opportunity I can to talk about her.

Amy Castro :  04:06
Yeah, it's interesting that pets are and animals in general are just things that bring us together and invite conversation. It's like a it's like a connecting point for us, I think. Yes, I definitely agree.

Bailey Hyde 04:20
Um yeah, I think it's something that, again, like you said, the connection point of even just having people see my tattoo of mine and saying, Oh my gosh, I have a corgi, and then starting that conversation and getting to meet new people that way, which I'm not by default the most social person in the world, but that is something that I can talk about for hours. How wonderful my dog is.

Amy Castro :  04:39
So Yeah, I'm the same one. I'm certainly not an initiator of social communication, that's for sure, which is strange because I'm a speaker for a living. When when people come in and they're getting a tattoo of their pet, are they mostly getting tattoos of pets that are alive, or is it more of a memorial thing, or is it I'm I'm sure it's a mix, but what's the trend, do you think?

Bailey Hyde 05:01
So I would probably say the trend is mostly towards pets that have passed away. Um I would almost say it's 50-50, but it I do feel like it kind of trends a little bit towards um a memorial of sorts. At least the ones that I've done in the most recent past have been all memorials, with the exception of maybe two um in the last couple months. I do them fairly frequently, but one of them I did for my friend most recently was for her dog that is still with us. He's still alive. But there was probably three or four right before that that I can think of that were all memorial pieces. So I think it tends to turn to that way. Mm-hmm.

Amy Castro :  05:40
And what it like, what what is the conversation like when somebody comes in and they are like, do they immediately jump into, hey, my dog passed away, or my cat passed away, or my lizard, or whatever it might be, um, and and kind of get into the whole story of the pet, or do they just come in and say something like, Hey, I'd like to get a tattoo of this corgi? Like I'm curious as to how much people share about the experience that brought them there.

Bailey Hyde 06:06
So I think a lot of, and this might sound kind of cheesy, but I think that a lot of getting tattooed and coming up with your ideas for, you know, getting a tattoo for yourself is a lot about storytelling. Um, so for me, it's almost always accompanied with a story. It's always coming in and saying, I want a picture of my dog on my thigh because they were all of these things to me. I want a, you know, paw print on this part of my arm because that's where they used to r rest their paw when we would come home and they'd be excited to see me. So I think a lot of it has to do with the storytelling aspect, and I think that's what makes it so personable for a lot of people, um, is just the fact that they can kind of hold those memories and have it be associated with that tattoo. I think a lot of it is storytelling as far as that goes. So there's usually a very, very detailed explanation of um why they are wanting to get that tattoo, the meaning behind it, down to even the placements of where tattoos are going are important to people and they want to be able to share that information.

Amy Castro :  07:10
Yeah, I was actually gonna ask you about that as far as the location. What are what do you think people like what are you seeing as far as how people are choosing or where people are choosing to put the tattoos? Like, is it for them, is it for the public, is it for both of the people?

Bailey Hyde 07:25
I think a lot of it is more personal, if I had to guess. Um so of course, you know, I'm having these conversations with people when they come in discussing where they want things, and a lot of time it's about visibility. So I was coaching someone through where to put a tattoo of their dog's face maybe a month or so ago. And while we were talking, originally the spot was going to be kind of like in their arm this direction, where you know it was sort of visible, sort of not. And through the course of discussing what we wanted the end all be all of the tattoo to look like, uh we decided that it was going to be something that we would both be happier if it was more visible. So as we're discussing it, the client basically said, No, wait, I really want to be able to look down and see her all the time and show her off better.

Amy Castro :  08:16
And what you're describing is kind of like in the crook of her arm. Like, is it was it a feeling of like I'm holding, holding her, and then when that's where her head would be when I was looking down? I think uh well, for this particular instance, it was a little bit less that.

Bailey Hyde 08:30
Um we're working on a sleeve project, and this just happened to be a small portion of it. Okay. But that's kind of where the flexibility came from, is we were talking talking about a bunch of different spots that we could put um the dog's face, and originally the spot was not going to be very visible at all. And again, through just kind of talking about the different options of what we could put there, what we couldn't for the future, uh, it was definitely one of those things where it became much more of a priority to have it somewhere where he could see it just on a day-to-day basis. So when it comes to placements, I think it's a lot more for the person themselves, it's a lot more personal of a decision. I know for me, I got my dog's face where she rests her face on my thigh. So when we're sitting on the couch and she curls up next to me, her little face sits right on top of her face now. And um, so I just think that that's cute. And I get pictures of her like that all the time. You know, of course, the other instance being what I mentioned a second ago, the paw print on the person's wrist where their dog would jump up, and you know, when he was excited, that's exactly where his paw print would land. And we tried to get the positioning exactly right. So I think, especially with pet portraits or pet-related tattoos, it's much less common for those to be the ones where people are saying that they need to hide them, of course, unless they have to for a job or you know, whatever the case might be. But more often than not, those are the ones that are people saying, no, I want this to be visible for me, or I have a very specific spot that I want this to go in because it's significant to the pet themselves.

Amy Castro :  09:59
Okay. And and you'd mentioned the idea of the you know, the paw print versus a f a full likeness. What what do you think the uh um or what are you seeing as far as like because I've seen things where it's like a portrait of the pet. I've seen it where it's literally to the opposite extreme is little little marks, and you couldn't tell what it is unl until the person showed you, and and it's a lot of times this is in videos where it shows you the dog smiling and it's their teeth pattern. It's like I never would have guessed that if I saw that tattoo on that person's wrist, uh just as an example. Um where are people going, you know, where are they coming from when they're making those decisions? And how do you guide them through that? Like, do I get the likeness or the TVs or the nose print?

Bailey Hyde 10:45
Yeah. Um, I think a lot of that is something that they kind of predetermine before they come to see me. Um, a lot of times there will be, again, it's all very personal, right? So for instance, I have a client that she got, it's very cute, but um, instead of a paw print or instead of a likeness, she got a little croissant with, you know, an imprint of her dog's paw next to it. But the main part of the tattoo was this little croissant, and it's because her dog was obsessed with a croissant-shaped pillow that they have in, I think, like their office or their living room or something. And so it's even stuff like that where, you know, when you look at it at first, you think, okay, a croissant, I I don't know what that is. Um, but then as you kind of get that story of, oh no, that was her favorite pillow, that's what she was obsessed with, that was her thing, then it becomes a lot more, again, funny and kind of um, I don't know, just like a fun memory for them to be able to look back on and say, no, that was her thing. Like it might not be her face, but that's her. So when it comes to the actual content of it, it's less something that I feel like I have to coach people through. A lot of times I think they come in with a very deep meaning already for themselves. And of course, I can coach them through things if they want different elements added into something. For instance, someone came in with a portrait of their dog that they unfortunately had lost earlier that year, and we were kind of playing around with ideas of what we could add in to make the tattoo a little bit more personal to them, because it was going to be a tattoo of the dog's face, and they wanted a couple more elements to sort of fill it out and make it look like a more finished piece. And so we ended up adding um a lot of background to it and like their collar and a couple other things that were more personal to the dog, you know, toys and things like that, or imagery that people associate with their pet as well. So there's a lot of coaching that can happen with that when it's additives to things, but for the most part, people come in already with an idea of this is what's meaningful to me and what was meaningful to us together.

Amy Castro :  12:48
Yeah. Yeah, I don't know that I'm that creative. I think I would need more help, or I'd have to just go looking at what other people have done. But I like like the croissant thing, I think that's that's a cool one because it's not obvious. And so it's like it actually, I I would think trigger a different kind of conversation. Like there would be people that would say, I'm not gonna ask her about that croissant on her arm, or whatever the case may be, or other people that are just curious, and it's it so it's kind of almost like a middle ground of obvious connection and conversation and not conversation at all. So that's kind of interesting. I do want to talk about pros and cons because there are probably people that are listening that are thinking about it. Let's talk about the let's talk about the the pros first.

Bailey Hyde 13:34
Like what do you see as the benefit that people gain by doing this or that they've come back and said, I'm so glad I did this because Yeah, so I think a lot of the pros are, you know, some things that we've already talked about, being able to kind of I guess the best way I would describe it was anytime you know, you bring up this tattoo with someone, you start a conversation about it. I do the same thing with mine. You almost see the person's face light up. They get so excited to be able to talk about you know, their pet or this specific favorite memory or whatever the case may be. Uh so I feel like there's a lot of pros to the fact of you can have this person that just, you know, you see their whole demeanor change the second they have a chance to be able to talk about this, because realistically, if the pet meant so much that they're putting something permanent on their body, it meant a lot to them. So by default, it's just something that you see this just continence change of people going, oh my gosh, I get to talk about, you know, this. Um so I think one of the pros is being able to one carry that pet with you, right? So even if it's something that whether the pet is alive at the time that you get the tattoo or not, um, that is something that you get to carry with you forever, essentially. Unfortunately, pets are given entirely too short of lifespans unless you have a tortoise. So um, you know, that kind of thing. But I feel like going into getting a tattoo of um your pet, that's a part of it, is that people think about the fact that they're going to be able to bring it with them, start conversations, have this pleasant memory. There's a lot of prose to be said for that. Yeah. Um, one of my best friends that got her dogs tattooed on her thigh, one of her things that she said was that she got it because he had helped her through the most difficult parts of her life. And so she wanted to have that memory of her dog and the things that he was able to do for her while she was going through a very hard time. And so I think that's a huge pro to it is being able to carry that with you, remember it, have that close to you at all times as kind of a permanent reminder, if you will.

Amy Castro :  15:38
Yeah.

Bailey Hyde 15:39
So I think that that's part of it.

Amy Castro :  15:41
Yeah. And you know, I was thinking we all obviously carry our phones around, and any pet lover has a million pictures of their pet, other than the fact that obviously it's permanent part of your body when you add a tattoo to your body. What do you think is different about having a tattoo versus this picture of my dog on my phone?

Bailey Hyde 16:02
I think it just feels so personal. Such a it's such a dedicated thing that you're doing, right? Like you're dedicating not only your time but your money. It's painful. Getting tattooed is not necessarily a painless process. And so I think just maybe psychologically, there's a probably element of this level of dedication that no, I got this. I sacrificed a part of myself to be able to have this pet with me at all times. Um, so I don't know, at least again, speaking maybe from personal experience, I suppose, but um there is a a certain aspect to getting a tattoo that I feel like is very much a um, I guess a bit of a sacrificial sort of thing, if you if you will, you know, again, time, money, pain, those things. Um, and of course you're giving up a space on your body to dedicate to this pet.

Amy Castro :  16:55
Yeah. I would think, you know, the that the level of commitment that it takes to that, you know, I mean, anyone can take a picture, anyone can delete it afterwards, but you know exactly. And obviously tattoos can be removed, but you know, it's it's definitely a different level of commitment to that image and that memory when you put it permanently on your body for sure. Yeah, exactly. So as far as the as far as the downsides would be, and I would assume and I don't want to go too far into, you know, the cons of getting a tattoo, per se, but specifically for the for the pet, have you seen buyer's remorse or people that regretted doing it, or you know, maybe in a situation where you'd say, yeah, I don't think this is a great idea.

Bailey Hyde 17:42
I don't think I've seen any buyer's remorse as far as that goes. It's typically something that um much like when people get, you know, even memorial tattoos for people as well, I think it's something that it means a lot as far as that goes. And so I don't think that there's so much regret. I don't think I've ever had anyone come in and say, oh, I regret getting this, I want to get it covered up, that kind of thing. I think probably what I coach people through as far as them coming with questions or concerns or anything like that, is admittedly, you know, if the pet is still alive, having that conversation of, hey, maybe think about mentally what this will mean for you when they do pass away. I had to think about that when it came to getting my own dog's face on my thigh. Um, because it is something that I had to think, you know, is this going to bother me or send me into maybe a deeper grief when she passes away than what it would have if I had gotten this as a memorial tattoo later. For me, it was worth going ahead and getting it when I did, because I can have it for longer, I can enjoy it for longer. And I think that at least personally, my choice was something where, you know, the pros outweighed the cons. But admittedly, that's something that I have to talk to people about is hey, mentally, you know, just kind of consider this, not trying to talk anybody out of anything by any stretch of the imagination, but um, that is a conversation that's had. And then, you know, you do have a finite amount of space on your body unless you just start covering stuff up and doing overlapping sort of things, right? So eventually, if you're a big pet person or animal person, you do realistically have to think about the fact that you're gonna run out of space, or are you going to be able to get a tattoo of every single pet that you ever own? For me, I have my dog, and then I don't know if you can see it, but I have my chinchillas that I used to have um a long time ago. And so um now I have two corgies, a chinchilla, and what can only be described as a Muppet. It's my boyfriend's dog. But I thought you were gonna say it's your boyfriend.

Amy Castro :  19:46
Your boyfriend's a muppet.

Bailey Hyde 19:47
Yeah, no, it could be, it could be. Um, but yeah, no, he he came as a package deal with a little um kind of like Yorkie wiener dog mix, and uh, she looks like a Muppet, she's great. But for me, uh it's been a decision of, you know, what am I gonna do for the other dogs? Am I gonna get something for the other dogs? Am I gonna get something for this chinchilla that I have now? So that's kind of been something as well that I kind of talk people through is okay, well, you have one for the one dog, are you gonna get more for the others? Are you not? What's the thought process behind that? And uh, I mean, of course, I joke around all the time that like I have a favorite child because I obviously have the one Corgi, but I don't have her brother. And uh, given if he would stop eating, you know, so much of our personal belongings, he might, you know, qualify as having uh space for a tattoo. Um, but even then, you know, it's funny because I'll think about things where you know I don't have a tattoo of him currently, and for a while there I wasn't sure if I was going to get one. I very much describe my first Corgi as being kind of my sole dog. I'm very aware that I got very, very, very fortunate in the fact that I got the perfect dog for me. But unfortunately, I got her when I was younger and in college, and I know for a fact she's not going to outlive me, and that breaks my heart a little bit. Um, so admittedly, I consider whether or not I'm going to get a tattoo of the other ones, and that's probably what I would say would be maybe a con, is the little bit of guilt that you feel going, you know, I have the one for the one, but then I don't have the ones for the other, and I don't know that I'm going to ever get the ones for the other ones. So that's something to consider as well.

Amy Castro :  21:25
Yeah, yeah. And even if it was, and I don't know if people would do this or not, but like, you know, something that's dog related but not specific to one dog, because you know you're gonna have a lifetime of dogs. But that's that's interesting. I hadn't really thought about the guilt, and it's like, at what point do you well and and some people may never stop.

Bailey Hyde 21:41
Um, that's something that I consider all the time. We joke around about it that again, Cora's the favorite and Ajax is not, more even the fact that I have the two chinchillas from before and not the one that I have currently. So yeah, I would say that there's a certain level of guilt, at least speaking from personal experience, and a couple clients I think would probably speak to that too. It's been a conversation that I've had with. Couple of them.

Amy Castro :  22:01
Yeah. Just tell Ajax, you know, only good only good dogs get to be listen.

Bailey Hyde 22:06
And it's funny because we talk about that all the time, that he is absolutely the like little brother vibes of the two of them, where he just gets into constant chaos. And I'm like, if you were a better dog, I would love you enough to get a tattoo. And in reality, I love him very, very much. I know.

Amy Castro :  22:23
Yeah. I I wanted to kind of address the issue of timing and readiness like after a pet passes, because when you when you were talking about getting a tattoo when a pet is still alive, like I think about my favorite dog now. Her name's her name's Guinevere, but she goes by Gunny and she's a bulldog mix, and she's super cute. But she is she was a lot cuter when she was younger, let's put her that way. Bulldogs have a tendency, you know, they get a little droopy, and now she's gray, and you know, her eyes are droopier, and I still adore her, but um it's like you know, which image do I want to be left with?

Bailey Hyde 22:60
I think it's a very personal decision because for some people their memories are, you know, oh, I love this memory from when they were like a little puppy, and they did this funny thing that I've just never been able to get past, or maybe that's where they got their name. For instance, my mom got a dog when I was younger that her original name was supposed to be Bridget, and it was just this huge name for this little Maltese puppy. And when we brought her home, she was so tiny that she couldn't get through our yard without having to hop around everywhere. And so my mom very reluctantly changed her name from Bridget to Cricut, because she just looked like a little cricket hopping through the grass. And so, you know, there's sometimes things that are tied a little bit more to like, oh, you know, when they were a puppy, this was the thing that I thought of and this was great. Or, you know, of course, you see a lot of people that get the tattoos of their dogs when they're, I don't want to say in their prime or pets when they're in their prime, but you know, as kind of like young adults and things like that before the frosty has had a chance to kind of come in, right? Um, but then at the same time, you know, a lot of people will kind of have that personal experience of no, this is what I want for them. I want to remember them even when you know they're a little bit older, they have a little bit of frost on their muzzle, or you know, there's something kind of definitive about that memory for them that's more important or maybe stands out a little bit more. I'll say that. Yeah. Um, than maybe any of the other timelines when they would have had a chance to do that same thing. Because I've done probably equal parts of, you know, young adult pets, and then I've done some of them when they're old and they've got the again, the frosty muzzle and the like kind of cloudy eyes and things like that. Um, I've done a lot of both of those.

Amy Castro :  24:41
Interesting. Yeah. So they're not trying to um create a picture that never actually existed. Like they're going with the reality of the cloudy eyes and all. That's interesting. Yeah. Interesting. And and what about timing from the standpoint of like timing after a pet passes? Like, is is it a good idea, or is it again, probably super personal to get something right away, to wait and think about it? Um, what do you what do you see people doing?

Bailey Hyde 25:12
Again, it's also personal. Because I've had it just truly across the spectrum, really. Um, because of course you have people that get them before they pass, and then you get them. I had a client that they knew that the time was coming up, and so they made their appointment and got it as soon as they could before the pet passed, but they knew that it was imminent. And for them, it was a very healing experience of being able to, I guess, work through those emotions of I'm about to lose this pet, but now I have this with me forever. Um, I can carry them with me. And I think for some people it's, you know, as soon as the pet passes away, they need that moment of being able to, you know, again work through those emotions and be able to kind of process what's just happened. And then for other people, it's very much a no, I was grieving so hard and I couldn't imagine the thought of being in without my pet. And so it took maybe a little bit more time to be able to come to terms with the fact that they've had that loss and then make the appointment and come in to get something.

Speaker 1: 26:13
Yeah.

Bailey Hyde 26:14
So realistically, it's a very broad spectrum of what makes people feel the most connected to their pet, or you know, maybe what brought them into my chair in the first place is very, very wide of a spectrum.

Amy Castro :  26:28
Yeah. Have you ever had had anybody come in where you were like where you basically told them it wasn't time and that they needed to wait? Like for whatever whatever it was that they were experiencing when they were there?

Bailey Hyde 26:42
I don't think so. I've never turned down any of them. Um you know, with tattooing, especially when it comes to things like that, I think it's it's something that that person has already wrestled with their thoughts on it, probably a decent amount before they got to me. So for me to tell them that they aren't ready for their step in that journey of either grieving their pet or remembering their pet in whatever way that they choose, I don't know that that would be necessarily my place to tell them that they're not ready. Um so a lot of people by the time that they've come to me have processed a lot of those emotions or are using the tattoo process to do that for them. And I think that that can be a very healing experience for a lot of people. So to be denying of someone to be able to get that tattoo, I think might in some cases deny them the possibility of being able to come in and work through some of that.

Amy Castro :  27:39
Yeah. Well, it's it's it's interesting because you know, the whole old stereotype that people have who don't have tattoos and don't have friends that have tattoos, is that it's something that you go in and you get the spontaneous thing and you wake up the next morning and you're like, what is this on my arm? kind of thing. And what I thought was interesting when I originally reached out to you, the form that you have on your website and the incredible amount of detailed questions that you're asking. And I'm like, man, I gotta work hard to get through this form and provide this information. But that was the first sign, like light bulb to me, that it is a thinking process, and there's an expectation on your part that there's a thinking process that's going into that.

Bailey Hyde 28:21
So, yeah, there's this antiquated thought process, I think, for a lot of people, that getting a tattoo is either a wildly spontaneous process, or maybe a better word would probably be, I guess, ir like irresponsible, I guess, because it is it's a permanent change to your body, and that's something that I think a lot of people, at least a long time ago, maybe used to do on a whim, or it might be something where, oh, I'll just go in and do this really quick, right? And so I I think that thought process is a little bit antiquated just because especially when it does come to pet tattoos and things like that. And um, as you saw with our form, there's a lot of details that go into even starting the process. That's before you actually even get the tattoo, right? So that's going into thinking, what do I want? Where do I want it? How big? How much money am I willing to spend on this? You know, all these different things. And so it is something that I think, at least from an artist's perspective, I want someone that's thought through at least the majority of these things already before they get to me, so that I can give them the best tattoo possible. Because if someone comes in and tells me, you know, oh, I want this tattoo, but I have absolutely no idea any details, any anything, well then I'm potentially creating something that's fabricated and it's not what actually means anything to you. It's me superimposing my thoughts of what the situation is onto your body. And in some cases, that's fine. Some people want to come in and just get tattoos spontaneously, and that's great. Um, that's what walk-ins are for. But at least when it comes to very specifically pet memorial tattoos or pet tattoos in general, there's been a lot of thought process that goes into that. It's very infrequent that we have people come in and they're just like, oh, I was downtown on a Saturday and figured that I wanted to come in and get something. Um, unless it's something, you know, maybe kind of cute, like the pet ear outlines and things like that that you see that are like those cute, kind of more, you know, dainty or smaller tattoos. But even then, that's something that you find that the person's already been thinking about that a lot, where they say, Oh, you know, I've wanted this for a long time. I just haven't done it yet, so I'm gonna make myself do it. It's never a thought of they haven't thought about it long enough. Interesting to be able to come and get it.

Amy Castro :  30:42
Yeah, that's good to that's good to know that people are thinking that through because it is so permanent. Right. So from your perspective, what stands out to you most about what this experience means to people and what does it mean to you to be part of that?

Bailey Hyde 30:58
I know we keep going back to it that this is such a personal journey for everybody when it comes to getting something like this, which you know, can be said of any kind of tattoo that you get, right? Some of them are silly, some of them are much more serious, but I think that probably the most inspiring thing or the the thing that I enjoy the most about being able to do pet uh tattoos for people is something we've kind of already touched on, I guess a little bit, but just the overwhelming change in the way someone carries themselves after they've gotten a pet tattoo. And I know it sounds silly, it sounds, you know, like, oh, it can't be this like big life-changing thing, but I don't think I've ever seen anybody come in and get a pet-related tattoo and not leave looking visibly different than when they came in in a positive way. You know, so I feel like a lot of people come in and maybe are a little bit apprehensive, they're a little bit nervous, because again, there's a pain aspect, there is a nervousness that, you know, maybe this tattoo is not gonna come out the way that I want it to, or you know, whatever the case may be. Hopefully you've done enough research on your artist that you find somebody good that's gonna do the thing that you want correctly. But I've never seen anybody come in and get a pet-related tattoo and not leave looking like they've had a weight taken off of their shoulders, I guess. Um, and that's not something that I've consciously brought up to clients necessarily. That's not something that we've had a conversation about afterwards. It's just something I've noticed where people will come in and it almost seems, and again, this might be kind of silly, but you can see how much that pet meant to them, and you can see almost the emotional tie that they have to this, you know, animal that they've had in their lives before, and the way that they look once they have this permanent reminder with them is really touching, to be honest. Um, and it could be something as simple as again a paw print or a croissant or um, you know, something more silly, I guess. But it's always been something that when people leave, there's there's a visible difference in how they're carrying themselves. And I think that that's honestly really beautiful. So if I had to say one like maybe inspiring thing, that's something that I've noticed, and that's probably what makes doing pet-related tattoos one of my favorite things to do, is just seeing the overwhelming joy when someone gets it, just what that means to them. Because I mean, I can only imagine all the thoughts that are going through their head, but a lot of the comments that I get after someone is done getting their tattoo is oh my gosh, this is perfect. This is just exactly what I imagined, this is all of the memories that I wanted for this pet wrapped into one thing. And it's just really touching. It's a touching experience to get to see people do that, even if it's not something that's brought to their attention at the time.

Amy Castro :  33:59
Yeah. Well, and that's got to be a powerful thing for for you, you know, as the artist doing that to create, because you're not only creating a piece of art, but you're I think you're changing a person, it sounds like, you know, and and and changing them in a positive way.

Bailey Hyde 34:18
Yeah. I I take a lot of pride in being able to take someone's idea, take someone's, you know, likeness of their pet or whatever it might be. Um, I think those are the tattoos that, not that every tattoo is not important, but those are the ones that I spend a lot of time making sure that everything is perfect and really making sure that I get every detail that I possibly could. You know, for me, with my corgi tattoo, she's got um a very specific little dot on the top of her head that when I got that tattoo, I was like, please, for the love of God, like I don't care what you do, but I need her little dot to be in there, like whatever pose she is, whatever. And so even going down to details like that, I try to make sure that I'm getting someone's pet or animal exactly how they imagine that it should be, to make that as, I guess, perfect as I possibly can. And tattooing is by default an imperfect art, right? You're doing something on someone's body, and bodies are imperfect, and that's perfectly okay. But that is something that I hold very near and dear to my heart is being able to capture exactly what it is that that person wanted for that animal specifically, um, so that they can have that experience when they're leaving.

Amy Castro :  35:34
Yeah. And I think that that kind of goes back to my my comment about the the photograph versus the art, is that there's so much, you know, there's a lifetime that can feed into that artwork where a photograph's only going to catch a moment in time. And that's a powerful thing for the person that gets to carry that art with them for life. Yeah, no, that's exactly right. For anybody that's maybe maybe listened to this and now they're like, hmm, maybe I should, you know, maybe I should think about this a little bit more. Is there one last thing to think about to make that decision?

Bailey Hyde 36:08
Not that I feel like that we haven't already covered, or, you know, again, the placement, the memory that comes with it, but those are all things that I think when people are considering getting a pet tattoo, it's something that they mull over quite a bit already. So realistically, probably the only thing that I would say is find an artist that suits the style that you're wanting and someone that you feel comfortable working with. We like to say around our tattoo studio that we're not printers. It's not something where, you know, one person can do every single thing. You want to find someone that really specializes in exactly what you want that tattoo to look like. And if you do that, you look at their past work and you like the things that they've done previously. As long as you communicate well with them, more than likely you're going to get exactly what you wanted.

Amy Castro :  36:51
So before I let you go, what's the best way for people to get a hold of you if they want to find out more about your art, your studio, and getting a pet tattoo or something else?

Bailey Hyde 37:02
Yeah, um, so the best way to get a hold of us is we do have a website. The shop's uh name is Inktherapy Abilene. We're located in Abilene, Texas, um, in the downtown area. But best way to get a hold of us is through our website, uh, Inktherapyabi.com. We've got a whole form on there that tries to make everything very streamlined. It's got all the questions and things like that that we would need to know that's important. Uh otherwise, if someone wants to look at my own or any of my other artists' work, we've got an Instagram and a Facebook page as well that's all branded as Inktherapy Abilene.

Amy Castro :  37:35
Okay. All right, and we'll definitely put links in the show notes to that. And there's some fantastic um artwork on there for sure, because I was looking through the Instagram the other day. So we'll uh put put people in touch with you there.

Bailey Hyde 37:48
I appreciate you having me on to be able to speak about this. These are two of my favorite things, being able to talk about animals and tattoos. I could probably sit here all day and do that. So I really appreciate it.

Amy Castro :  37:57
You're welcome, and I really appreciate you being here today. And it was definitely interesting and eye-opening, and I think gives people who are listening and thinking about this a lot of great ideas and food for thought to make the decision and to do it right so that they're happy with the outcome. So thank you so much. 

Bailey Hyde:

Absolutely. You're so welcome. I appreciate you having me on. 

Amy Castro:

I want to leave you with something to think about if this is something you've been considering. Ask yourself this do I want this tattoo because it captures my pet or because it captures what my pet means to me? Because those can be two very different things. And the tattoo that you choose is something that will be a part of you for the rest of your life. So make sure that it tells the story you actually want to carry with you on your journey. 

And if you're listening to this and realizing you're not totally sure what the right next step is for you, whether that's something like a tattoo or a behavior issue with your pet, or you're just feeling stuck with your pet situation in general. That's exactly why I started offering one-on-one pet parent hotline sessions. These are 30-minute calls where we look at what's actually going on with you and your pet and figure out your next best move without all the noise and conflicting advice that you might find online. If you want that kind of clarity, you can grab a spot at petparenthotline.com/consult. 

Thanks for listening to the Pet Parent Hotline. If you enjoyed the show, don't keep it to yourself. Text a friend right now with a link and tell them I've got a show that you need to hear. And ask them to let you know what they think. And remember, your pet's best life starts with you living yours. So be sure to take good care of yourself this week and your pets.