# White shepherd Esmeralda update - 15 months



## Shazzyx (Jun 24, 2013)

Hi all!

Its been quite some time since I last posted here! Last time I posted about Esmeralda, she was 6 months old.. Oops!

She is now 15 months old and coming along beautifully. This dog is an absolute dream for me, she couldn't be more perfect. She can be a pain at times, but I love her nontheless.

We've had a few issues throughout the months. Mainly, 2 months ago she had to be partially shaven due to flea allergy dermatitis. I know I know, shaving is bad. But this was medically required.

3 weeks into the treatment for dermatitis, she caught ringworm off my foster kittens! Thats been about 6 weeks now, and it has all but cleared up. The fur on her back has regrown beautifully, I am so pleased.

At 7-8 months of age, she started officially training towards being my Service Dog for mental health. The public access has, ofcourse, been halted since she was shaven 2 months ago. And I am keen to get back into public access with her. I've really missed it and struggled without her =/

In other news, we will be bringing home another bundle of white fluffy joy mid 2015 =) Esmeralda will be getting a brother! We are very excited for him. He'll be our first ever show dog! I will be sure to share photos with you all when he arrives =) We're looking at around July for him.

I hope you enjoy! All the photos of Esmeralda are above 12 months of age, the first image being taken about an hour ago  They're otherwise not in order. The B&W headshot was from a few days ago, the last one of her trotting was from last week etc.


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

OMG, she is georgeous! You do not need a swiffer duster with that tail!


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

OH MY GOSH! I want! Where did you find such loveliness?!? PM me if you don't want to divulge publicly please!

May I ask, is her fur difficult to maintain?!? I've seen a few white coaties on this forum and envied them. My Zeeva is 'balding' in comparison. Lol.


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## Shazzyx (Jun 24, 2013)

Zeeva said:


> OH MY GOSH! I want! Where did you find such loveliness?!? PM me if you don't want to divulge publicly please!
> 
> May I ask, is her fur difficult to maintain?!? I've seen a few white coaties on this forum and envied them. My Zeeva is 'balding' in comparison. Lol.


More than happy to share where she came from publicly. Breeders put a lot of hard work into her and those lines, so they should be noted and thanked for it =)

She came from Rosehill kennels in Perth, Western Australia.

Her pedigree name is Rosehill Pompon de Paris, daughter of Coolabah Glamour Girl Mist "Paris" and SnoweyRiver Rain Spirit "Senna".


The coat is surprisingly easy to maintain! They "self clean" pretty well. I just let mud / dirt dry on her coat and it flakes and falls off naturally. A good brush with a slicker helps keep the coat dirt and knot free. She sheds a lot during season change (as she has recently) and I use an undercoat rake to get it out properly. I find a deshedder like furminator breaks the coat =)

She gets bathed maybe once a month. Suprising huh? Thats how well she self cleans =) Even when I do bath her, I don't use whitening shampoo.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Thank you! She is one of the loveliest white sheps I've ever seen C:

I'm in the states. I doubt the breeder would import that far...not that I'm looking right now. lol. 

I can't wait to see more pictures of her!

Is your new fur baby from the same breeder?!? Similar pup?!?


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## Shazzyx (Jun 24, 2013)

Shes actually in her thin summer coat at the moment too! This photo was taken in Spring (September) displaying her mostly full coat. It will continue to get fuller as the years go by, too! =)


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## Shazzyx (Jun 24, 2013)

Zeeva said:


> Thank you! She is one of the loveliest white sheps I've ever seen C:
> 
> I'm in the states. I doubt the breeder would import that far...not that I'm looking right now. lol.
> 
> ...



Thank you! I really appreciate such kind words =) If you have facebook, she has a page. Rosehill Pompon de Paris is the name of the page =)


Actually, the breeder does export  Shes exported a puppy to Europe before. It would be a matter of contacting them and asking. You may find she will! 

Our male is coming from the same breeder, however under a different prefix. Things are confusing with White Swiss Shepherds here. The ANKC accepts registration of dogs from fully imported lines. Because Esmeralda is half imported lines, half local lines, she is not ANKC registered but rather registered with the national breed club, the White Swiss Shepherd Dog Club of Australia or WSSDCA for short =) 

The male is from 2 fully imported parents. The breeders have imported the parents themselves. They are from Trebons Berger Blanc in Europe. Their ANKC prefix is Rosamontana.


They have a website for both Rosehill White Swiss Shepherds and Rosamontana White Swiss Shepherds =) =)


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

I see! I went through some of your older posted pictures!

I simply want to visit this lovely lady of yours and feel her furrrrr...

She's changed quite a bit from the husky puppy pictures you've previously posted of her.

How is her temperament?

And what is she being trained specifically for in terms of mental health? (are you ok?)


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## Shazzyx (Jun 24, 2013)

Zeeva said:


> I see! I went through some of your older posted pictures!
> 
> I simply want to visit this lovely lady of yours and feel her furrrrr...
> 
> ...


AHaha yea she did look like quite the husky puppy! I also got "Samoyed" a lot too 


She is trained to alert to anxiety attacks and to counter them. So she'll let me know that I am having an anxiety attack ( I often don't realize and it unfortunately escalates) and has tasks to alleviate the affects, as well blocking to prevent people getting too close, letting me know when people are close behind me. She will also train in some light mobility (like counter balance) when shes old enough.


She has only been in training since 6-7 months so we have lots more training to do before shes a fully trained Service Dog =) =)


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Shazzyx said:


> AHaha yea she did look like quite the husky puppy! I also got "Samoyed" a lot too
> 
> 
> She is trained to alert to anxiety attacks and to counter them. So she'll let me know that I am having an anxiety attack ( I often don't realize and it unfortunately escalates) and has tasks to alleviate the affects, as well blocking to prevent people getting too close, letting me know when people are close behind me. She will also train in some light mobility (like counter balance) when shes old enough.
> ...


How does the training work? Do you do it yourself? Work with a special dog trainer? How do you train her to 'know' that you're going to have an anxiety attack if you don't regularly have one; or do you have one and then train from there with someone else present? 

I'm sorry for the inquisitiveness...I realize you're in a day time zone right now so I'm taking advantage! lol.


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## Shazzyx (Jun 24, 2013)

Zeeva said:


> How does the training work? Do you do it yourself? Work with a special dog trainer? How do you train her to 'know' that you're going to have an anxiety attack if you don't regularly have one; or do you have one and then train from there with someone else present?
> 
> I'm sorry for the inquisitiveness...I realize you're in a day time zone right now so I'm taking advantage! lol.



She watches my behavior. I suffer from constant anxiety, and have some pretty obvious "ticks" in my behavior like trembling, rocking, leg jittering, incessantly scratching myself (which she has been trained to interupt as I keep scratching myself until I bleed!). 

Generally a medical alert dog, no matter what type of alert (anxiety, seizure, diabetes etc) needs to be a natural alerter. A lot of dogs are "washed out" (discontinuing training and often rehomed as a pet) because they simply do not alert. She naturally alerts about 60% of the time, before I show any of my anxiety behavior. Otherwise, she'll alert with the behavior starts.

To train to alert to the behavior, I just "mocked" the behavior and encouraged her to interact with that part of my body, either placing her paw on it or nudging it, whining etc. 

I am an independent, owner trained team. Which means I do not work with any organisation and train her myself. As she is still new into training, we have not worked with a trainer yet (plus we live rurally, no appropriate trainers!) but I do intend to work with one when I can. I need to work with a goverment recognised trainer to get the Public Access Test done, by which point she can be considered "fully trained". Until the PAT is done, even if she is fully trained, does her alerts perfectly etc, she can only be considered "in training". I plan to do a PAT asap, but she will remain in training for another 2 years or so =)


And its actually not daytime here  Its 10.20pm

*EDIT: *As for natural alerts, I think she senses a change in my heart rate or adrenalin levels. Can't be entire sure about that one


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Shazzyx said:


> She watches my behavior. I suffer from constant anxiety, and have some pretty obvious "ticks" in my behavior like trembling, rocking, leg jittering, incessantly scratching myself (which she has been trained to interupt as* I keep scratching myself until I bleed!*).
> 
> Generally a medical alert dog, no matter what type of alert (anxiety, seizure, diabetes etc) needs to be a natural alerter. A lot of dogs are "washed out" (discontinuing training and often rehomed as a pet) because they simply do not alert. She naturally alerts about 60% of the time, before I show any of my anxiety behavior. Otherwise, she'll alert with the behavior starts.
> 
> ...


I'm so sorry :C

I pray you find comfort, support and relief in her. 

I would ask you why this is...

But I'll let you go 

Thank you again for sharing!


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

She's stunning :wub:


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## DixieGSD (Aug 22, 2012)

She's Gorgeous! Love her white long coat :wub:


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Wowza! Beautiful dog. We want pics of your baby boy when he arrives!


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