Sacramento Animal Hospital

04/26/2025

🌟 That’s a wrap on CSR Appreciation Week — but their impact lasts all year.
To our entire front desk team: THANK YOU. Your patience, compassion, humor, and grace are unmatched. You are truly the heart of our hospital. 🧡🐾

If you haven’t yet, leave a message of thanks below — we’ll be compiling them all to share with the team next week!

04/25/2025

👟 Ever wonder what it’s like to be a CSR for a day?

Here’s a glimpse:

➡️ 100+ phone calls
➡️ Back-to-back appointment check-ins
➡️ Scheduling, comforting, problem-solving, repeat
➡️ And still finding time to offer kindness, clarity, and calm.

👏 Let’s hear it for the multitasking marvels behind the desk. Tag a CSR if you’ve ever thought “I could never do what you do — but I’m so glad you can.”

04/24/2025

🎤 Pop quiz!

Which CSR:
– Has a secret talent for singing?
– Has pets named after Disney characters?
– Has won an emmy?
– Drinks A TON of caffeine to get through the day? (Hint- there's no wrong answer on this one!)

👀 We won’t spill all the beans, but we will say that this team is full of awesome personalities and hidden skills!
Guess in the comments and we might reveal a few fun facts…

04/23/2025

🧡 It's the middle of CSR Week and our front desk team is still smiling!
Let’s give them a midweek energy boost with a Gratitude Wall!
👇 Shout out your appreciation in the comments — a kind word, a thank-you, or just a simple “you rock!” makes a difference.

📌 We’ll be sharing your comments with the team all day long!

04/22/2025

💡 Did you know? Our CSRs do so much more than answer phones!
They’re medical translators, grief supporters, logistics masters, and sometimes even therapists. 😅
From comforting nervous pet parents to coordinating complex schedules — they’re truly the frontline of care.

🐶🐱 What surprised you most about what veterinary CSRs do? Or what do YOU think is the hardest part of their job? Drop your guesses in the comments — let’s see who gets it right!

04/22/2025

We will be closing early for a staff training meeting. If your pet is having a medical emergency, please contact Vista Veterinary Specialists at 916-231-4445. We'll return to normal business hours tomorrow at 8am. Thank you for your patience!

04/21/2025

🎉 It’s Veterinary CSR Appreciation Week! 🎉
Our client service representatives are the glue that holds the hospital together — juggling phones, emails, appointments, and emotions (both human and furry 🐾).
They’re calm in chaos, kind under pressure, and essential to the care we provide every day.

💬 Help us celebrate them! Leave a comment below sharing a time a CSR made your visit easier, more comfortable, or just plain better. ❤️

04/13/2025

A similar message to a previous post, but having seen the frustration and disruption that bringing a dog who is a genetic mis-match into a family who isn’t equipped for the challenges of certain breeds, this is SO important to consider. Just like two-seater sports car isn’t appropriate for a big family with children, neither may be a Belgian Malinois who needs (and deserves!) significant time devoted to its training and environmental enrichment in a daily basis. 💕

Yes, Your Dog's Breed DOES Matter - Here's Why

I've noticed a concerning trend in dog training circles lately: "Breed doesn't matter. Talking about breed traits is just stereotyping. All dogs are individuals."

While this sounds enlightened and progressive, it's dangerously misleading.

Of course every dog is an individual with their own personality. But pretending that centuries of selective breeding hasn't created meaningful differences between dog breeds isn't progressive - it's ignoring reality.

No other species on earth has been so deliberately diversified by humans. We've spent many hundreds of years selectively breeding dogs for specific traits, behaviors, and abilities to perform vastly different jobs.

And those genetics matter.

Stand a Pug next to a Belgian Malinois. Look at their physical appearance, energy level, and behavior. They're so different it's hard to believe they're the same species. Acknowledging this isn't stereotyping - it's observation.

More than half the training issues I've seen in my career could have been prevented or significantly minimized if owners had carefully considered what kind of dog they were getting.

When someone living in a small city apartment brings home a Husky bred for running miles pulling sleds in cold climates, then wonders why the dog is struggling... that's not the dog's fault. That's a mismatch of genetics and lifestyle.

When a family wants a bombproof social dog for their busy household with many visitors, but chooses a breed selectively bred for guardian tendencies - that's setting everyone up for unnecessary challenges.

Acknowledging breed tendencies isn't limiting your dog. It's seeing them for who they are - and part of who they are is their genetics.

If you have a herding breed, you should expect to work more on motion sensitivity and chase behaviors - these traits are foundational to what makes them excel at herding.

If you have a terrier, you should anticipate certain natural tendencies toward prey drive and digging.

If you have a guardian breed, their natural wariness of strangers isn't a "training failure" - it's part of what made them excellent at their historical job.

Individual personality and environment will certainly influence how these traits express themselves, but the underlying genetic predispositions are real.

All dogs need social time, enrichment, and novelty. They need daily exercise and training. But how MUCH exercise, what TYPE of training, and which specific activities will fulfill them best is significantly influenced by breed.

Respecting breed tendencies isn't stereotyping - it's setting your dog up for success by understanding and honoring who they are.


Happy (Breed-Specific) Training!

04/08/2025

We will be closing this evening at 5pm for our monthly staff meeting. If your pet is having a medical emergency, please call Vista Veterinary specialists at 916-231-4445. Thank you for your understanding!

04/05/2025

Such good information….each dog breed (or mix of breeds) often has innate genetic drives and needs that may make them a great fit for some households, but not for others. Careful research can help make certain that the dog you choose is most likely to conform to your ability to commit the time and energy into their training and need for daily environmental enrichment. 💕💕

I am a 21st century dog….
-I'm a Malinois.
Overskilled among dogs, I excel in all disciplines and I'm always ready to work: I NEED to work.
But nowadays I get asked to chill on the couch all day everyday.

-I am an Akita Inu.
My ancestors were selected for fighting bears.
Today I get asked to be tolerant and I get scolded for my reactivity when another approaches me.

-I am a Beagle.
When I chase my prey, I raise my voice so the hunters could follow.
Today they put an electric collar on me to shut up, and you make me come back to you - no running - with a snap of your fingers.

-I am a Yorkshire Terrier.
I was a terrifying rat hunter in English mines.
Today they think I can't use my legs and they always hold me in their arms.

-I'm a Labrador Retriever.
My vision of happiness is a dive into a pond to bring back the duck he shot to my master.
Today you forget I'm a walking, running, swimming dog; as a result I'm fat, made to stay indoors, and to babysit.

-I am a Jack Russell.
I can take on a fox, a mean badger, and a rat bigger than me in his den.
Today I get scolded for my character and high energy, and forced to turn into a quiet living room dog.

-I am a Siberian Husky.
Experienced the great, wide open spaces of Northern Europe, where I could drag sleds for long distances at impressive speeds.
Today I only have the walls of the house or small garden as a horizon, and the holes I dig in the ground just to release energy and frustration, trying to stay sane.

-I am a border collie
I was made to work hours a day in partnershipwith my master, and I am an unmistakable artist of working with the herd.
Today they are mad at me because, for lack of sheep, I try to check bikes, cars, children in the house and everything in motion.
I am ...
I am a 21st century dog.

I'm pretty, I'm alert, I'm obedient, I stay in a bag...but I'm also an individual who, from centuries of training, needs to express my instincts, and I am *not* suited for the sedentary life you'd want me to lead.

Spending eight hours a day alone in the house or in the garden - with no work and no one to play or run with, seeing you for a short time in the evening when you get home, and only getting a small toilet walk will make me deeply unhappy.

I'll express it by barking all day, turning your yard into a minefield, doing my needs indoors, being unmanageable the rare times I'll find myself outside, and sometimes spending my days sunk, sad, lonely, and depressed, on my pillow.

You may think that I should be happy to be able to enjoy all this comfort while you go to work, but actually I’ll be exhausted and frustrated, because this is absolutely NOT what I'm meant to do, or what I need to be doing.
If you love me, if you've always dreamed of me, if my beautiful blue eyes or my athletic look make you want me, but you can't give me a real dog's life, a life that's really worth living according to my breed, and if you can't offer me the job that my genes are asking, DO NOT buy or adopt me!

If you like the way I look but aren't willing to accept my temperament, gifts, and traits derived from long genetic selection, and you think you can change them with only your good will, then DO NOT BUY OR ADOPT ME.

I’m a dog from the 21st century, yes, but deep inside me, the one who fought, the one who hunted, the one who pulled sleds, the one who guided and protected a herd still lives within.

So think **very** carefully before you choose your dog. And think about who will keep me company when tou are gone…Eight or ten hours is just a workday to you, but it's an eternity for me to be alone.

Written by *unknown*

03/18/2025

We will be closing tonight at 5pm for team meetings. If your pet is having an emergency, please call Vista Veterinary Specialists at 916-231-4445.

03/04/2025

We will be closing tonight at 5pm for a staff meeting. If your pet is having a medical emergency, please reach out to Vista Veterinary Specialists at 916-231-4445. We'll be back in the office tomorrow morning at 8am. Thank you for your understanding!

02/25/2025

We will be closing for a lunch meeting today from 1pm-2pm. If your pet is having an emergency, please call Vista Veterinary Specialists at 916-231-4445. Thank you for your understanding!

02/04/2025

We will be closing early tonight at 5:00 PM for a staff meeting. If your pet is experiencing a medical emergency, please contact Vista Veterinary Specialists at 916-231-4445.

We’ll be back in the office tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM to care for your pets. Stay safe and stay dry in this rainy weather! ☔🐾

01/21/2025

We will be closing early tonight at 5 PM for team meetings. If your pet is experiencing a medical emergency, please contact Vista Veterinary Specialists at 916-231-4445.

We’ll be back in the office tomorrow morning at 8 AM. Thank you for your understanding! 🐾

01/04/2025

🌟 Happy National Trivia Day! 🌟

Let’s test your veterinary knowledge with a fun trivia question:

What is the normal body temperature range for a healthy dog or cat?
a) 98.6°F to 100.4°F
b) 100.0°F to 102.5°F
c) 103.0°F to 105.0°F

Drop your answer in the comments below! 👇 We'll reveal the correct answer later today. Bonus points if you share a fun fact about your pet too! 🐾

Thank you for playing along—we love sharing our passion for animal care with you! 💙

01/01/2025

12/30/2024

We’ll be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on New Year’s Eve to assist with any last-minute needs before the holiday. Please note that we’ll be closed on New Year’s Day to allow our team time to celebrate and recharge.

As we close out 2024, we want to thank you for your trust and support throughout the year. It has been an honor to care for your beloved pets, and we look forward to serving you in 2025. Wishing you and your families a safe, happy, and healthy New Year!