A lot of people talk to their pets like they are people.
Some people even go as far as to call their pets and leave messages on their answering machines when they aren’t home. Do pets understand what their humans are saying to them? According to this video, they do.
Max the Great Dane just wants to take a dip in the family swimming pool. Unfortunately, his owners have told him he can’t do that right now. Max could just forget about it and go play with a ball or dig a hole under the neighbor’s fence, but instead, he chooses to argue his point.
If Max could understand his mom’s words well enough to argue, it would be pretty impressive, but Max is actually deaf.
He isn’t listening to his owner; he is reading her lips and sign language. Max is so smart that he can argue with someone that he can’t even hear. Pretty cool, right?
Don’t worry; Max was allowed to swim once he took off his sweater. It turns out his mom wasn’t necessarily against him getting in the pool, she just wanted him to take his sweater off first. Max just so happens to love his sweater and was being a little stubborn about it.
Who can blame him? That is a nice sweater. Maybe his owners should consider getting him a swimsuit since he is so set on swimming in clothing. Do they make swimsuits for dogs? Max would probably argue about it, too.
He seems to really like to argue.
When Max isn’t working on his communication skills or floating around in the pool, he likes to protest wet floors and serve himself dinner. It seems he isn’t just passionate about wearing sweaters, either.
He also enjoys wearing a variety of hats. Of course, he also likes to wear those in the pool. You have to respect his sense of style. This dog knows what he wants to wear, and he isn’t afraid to be fashionable.
If Max can learn to read lips and understand sign language, what else is he capable of?
He likes to argue with his family a lot. Of course, it’s easy to see that Max is very much loved and that his owners have a lot of patience with him. After all, how many people would have an argument like this with their dog?
Max is definitely impressive, but he isn’t the only dog who is learning sign language.
The Central Nebraska Humane Society has an entire program dedicated to teaching dogs with hearing loss how to read lips and sign language. The program is designed to help these dogs better communicate with their owners the same way Max can communicate with his.
“The dogs are very smart. They have to be, so they can survive in their environments.”
Many dogs are turned over to rescues or picked up by the humane society because they have been abandoned by their owners after losing their hearing. Many people feel that dogs that cannot hear cannot be trained. Max and the dogs in the CNHS program are proving that isn’t the case.
More and more programs like this are popping up all over the country and are helping to reduce the number of dogs that end up in shelters each year.
The programs are also available to pet owners who would like to train with their dogs. If these programs are successful, there may be a lot more dogs arguing with their owners just like Max.
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