This picture was taken
on a ski trip in Zermatt,
Switzerland in 2004.  
The mountain in the
background is the
Matterhorn. There are
five places on the Swiss
side of the mountain
(one with plastic palm
tree) where one can
have a photo taken with
a rent-a-dog. The photo
is then available at the
end of the day at the
village's photo shop.
Although the huge dogs
are provided with a mat
on which to rest, they
usually prefer to lie on
the snow. The main
problem is keeping the
dogs awake throughout
their strenuous day of
sitting still for the camera.

If you go over the left
side of the Matterhorn
you can ski down into
Italy for lunch and be
back into Switzerland for
dinner. The Italian side
is pretty steep (though
quite wide) near the top
and the Swiss side for
the first mile of the
glacier is flat -
snowboarders beware.