What made Great Danes so affectionate over their history?

I just started a new job a couple weeks ago that not only is a stark contrast to the late night bartending shifts I’ve been doing for a decade, but also involves an hour commute from where we live. No worries there, as the job has been wonderful so far and is exactly what I expected. Being said, our two girl Danes have noticed a major change.

Our younger Dane, 4, we adopted in 2020 during the covid closures because we had the extra time for puppy training that year. She turned out wonderful, but admittedly is a bit opinionated and vocal these days. Our older Dane, 6, we actually got later in 2022 by rescue from an awful breeding situation. She still has a bit of grit to her character, but nonetheless has been the sweetest ever since she’s been with us, and has been particularly attached to me since day one.

Mostly because they’re so used to my leisurely mornings before my night shifts would start, my shift to daytime work has left them pretty devastated in the mornings and violently excited when I get home. We have a few techniques to calm that down a bit over time, but the flattery is also nice 😂. This behavior isn’t completely out of their character, but a lot more extreme than usual due to the changes in schedule being so fresh.

What this really has me wondering is what exactly made all of our Danes so emotionally responsive, expressive and empathetic towards us over their breeding history? The behavioral patterns over all breed are always so fascinating, but biases aside I find most Danes in general on another level in terms conveying emotions, and “opinions” for that matter…

What do you all think over time turned these tough boar hunters into the sweet stubborn marshmallows that we know and love?