Cool thread. Agree with everything above (rare). I put $12,000 into eye surgurys for a Samoyed I owned a long time ago. Bought her about 4 years.
My last lab cost me plenty for stitches over the years. She would light up on a bird's scent and no barb wire fence was going to stop her. Also had to do a 2am emergency room deal with her because she sliced her achiles tendon. That one was scary.
Current lab has been cheap but he's only 11 months old.
You want to talk about bonding. This dog has been away from me for a total of 5 days since he was 8 weeks. He goes everywhere (except Neah Bay) with me. He has proven to be an excellent boat dog. I've received a number of complements from folks on his demeanor in the boat. He hasn't broken a rod yet and he doesn't bark. He whined a bit one day but hasn't repeated that. He did 14 hours on the Sky last week without a complaint. I think he just likes boats. He's so relaxed when we float. At home he gets ramped up every afternoon knowing it's fetch time coming up. I'm also going on three months since he chewed up any of my stuff.
Ok I could go on forever here so I'll shut up. Dogs simply get me talking.