I'm a Vet Tech and most of us work in clinical areas, working directly with animals, which is great!
That is awesome, I recently got a MaltiPoo so I have a newfound appreciation for what you do!
Part of my vocational education that prepared me was to work on small and large dogs, including Maltipoos!
That is awesome, is it rewarding? I wanted to do that but I was heartbroken at the thought of putting down animals
yes it's really hard - we techs can be specialized in treating specific groups of animals or different medical issues like surgery, internal medicine.  That's the hardest having to put down the animals. 
That is so sad, I read that most owners choose not to be there when the pet is put down, so the poor animals last moment is alone in an unfamiliar area, and it broke my heart, that is just so terribly sad
That's horrible. Where I work we make sure there's someone in an internship how can't practice yet but has the degree and they stay with those animals so they aren't all alone