As most of you know, Dale is a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, and he is rare breed, therefore we did spend a pretty penny on him, not multiple thousands, but he was up there in price. We wanted a breed that would be great for our son to grow up with, hang on...play with, and not have to worry about the dog not liking it. Swissies are known for being great with kids...(of course Dale is still a puppy and active and jumpy), but once he settles down, he will be the ultimate dog for Christian to be around. I am sure there are plenty of dogs at shelters we could have adopted, but it is always hard to know,when buying a giant breed dog, what personality comes with it...once Christian is older, we may adopt an adult large breed dog (we like big dogs), maybe even a small one...but right now, we wanted a Swissie, so we got one. Rob may get into carting with Dale too, which this breed is known for, and they make great therapy dogs, (i may end up wanting to do this with Dale, or another dog in the future.)

So, anyway, those were my reasons...i voted for "b/c it is the best breed for me"...

Robyn

I should also mention, that if you go to petfinder.com, you might find one purebred Swissie...but they are rarely, if ever, put into a shelter, if the owner no longer wants the dog, they are to be sent back to the breeder...there is a very tight group of Swissie breeders out there...very few and far between as well...