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Most dog guides will tell you that a Great Dane’s life span is eight to 10 years, since molossoids generally have shorter lives than other breeds, and big dogs don’t live as long as some of their smaller cousins.
Fortunately for Marian and her devoted owner, Stefania B., there are always exceptions to the rule. Marian, a striking harlequin, may not have surpassed the longevity record for Great Danes worldwide (a documented 16 years), but she may be the record-holder in her native Italy. When she died, she was 14 years, five months and 13 days old, an honorable age for any breed and an almost unheard-of age for Danes.
How did she do it?
Marian was born on February 19, 1994, in Legnano, Italy, in a 4th floor apartment that also housed a Persian cat, a talking bird, and two small mixed breed dogs. She was one of a litter of eight puppies born to Cristina and Ivan, Great Danes with noteworthy longevity genes. This was their only litter.
{Cristina eventually died at the age of 13. Family members say Ivan searched for her the first day, whimpered the second day, and was found dead the third day. He had been with his mate for 12 years and his owners decided he had died of a broken heart.}
Marian was first placed in a local home when she was a couple of months old, but was returned after a…
