Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Princeton is now a 9-year-old Great Dane

Princeton on his 9th birthday

I’m happy to report that our Princeton is now nine years old -- quite old for a Great Dane.

He has slowed down a lot and the fur on his face is all turning white, but he is still happy and fun-loving. I try to cherish every day that he is still with us.

The usual lifespan predicted for a Great Dane is six to eight years, so he has already lived a long life for his breed. He even outlived his wonderful champion show-dog littermate, Shabrea’s Greatest Hits Cash’n the Ring of Fire, who died not long after their ninth birthday. I was so sad when I heard that Cash had “gone to the Rainbow Bridge,” but his family loved him to the end.

Princeton used to have a streak of black fur like a permanent tear-drop under his right eye. It made him look like he was crying or his eye was watering. But now it is almost all white, as if all his tears have been wiped away by a lifetime of good care and good times.

Princeton, age 9, still alert to dogs outside our fence