Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
Breed Profile
The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog or “Swissy” hails from the Swiss Alps, where it was used as a draft dog pulling enormously heavy carts, sometimes in excess of a ton and a half. This breed was also used for herding and guarding livestock and served as a watchdog.
Temperament
The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog is cheerful and has an enthusiastic disposition and exhibits strong affinity to people and children. This breed is sociable, active, and yet calm and majestic. They are known to require a great deal of room to exercise. They crave attention and physical contact. Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs are bold, faithful, hard working and are big pleasers.
Color & Coat
Coat: Its double coat consists of a thick undercoat and dense outer coat.
Color: While the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Standard calls for a black, white and rust dog, they do come in other colors which include blue, white and tan tri-color, and rust and white bi-color.
Health
For the most part, this breed is pretty healthy for their size. However, some of them can be prone to bloat, epilepsy, digestive disorders, hip dysplasia and distichiasis (extra eyelashes).