A Great Dane or similar adult-sized dog with white fur and dark markings, wearing a camouflage-patterned outfit over a white shirt, stands in front of a residential house with columns, glass doors, and windows. A stone-edged pool and patio furniture are visible near the entrance. 1:25

Deaf Great Dane Max talks back

Max is a deaf Great Dane, and he cannot hear a word his mom says. He doesn't need to. He reads her face, and her face says no swimming. more

The trouble is the shirt. Max wears it to protect the calluses on his elbows, keeping them dry and keeping him from licking them. A swim would undo all of that, and the pool sits just outside the house, edged in stone.

So Max goes to the stone ledge and gazes at the water. He leans over it with his mouth open, as if he's about to make his case.

A white Great Dane with pointed ears leans over a stone ledge near water, mouth open, with a light blue cloth around his neck. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Max leans over the stone edge of the pool, as near to the water as he can get.

"Max, you can't go swimming with your shirt," his mom tells him. "You know that." He answers with a squeak, which isn't the sound you expect from a dog that size, and she asks what kind of squeak that is. You would swear he heard every word.

In the middle of his protest he stops for a huge yawn. A gray dog statue stands near him by the pool like a silent judge, and one viewer admits the statue made them jumpy.

A white dog in a camouflage vest yawns widely beside a pool, with a gray statue of a dog nearby. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Max stops for a wide yawn beside the pool, right next to a gray dog statue.

"Such a complainer," his mom says. She keeps her cool and repeats the bad news, kindly but firmly. Max's side of it goes something like this: "Oh, come on, Mom. Take my shirt off. I promise I won't lick my elbows if you let me go swimming."

It doesn't work, but the no gets softer. He is such a good boy, she tells him, and he only has to stay dry for one more day. He can swim tomorrow. Until then he has his snazzy camo shirt, which, as she points out, beats the cone of shame.

A Great Dane or similar adult-sized dog with white fur and dark markings, wearing a camouflage-patterned outfit over a white shirt, stands in front of a residential house with columns, glass doors, and windows. A stone-edged pool and patio furniture are visible near the entrance. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Max is a deaf Great Dane, and he cannot hear a word his mom says.

Fans mostly take his side, and one tells his mom to stop being mean and let the sweet boy take a dip. Others say he looks sharp in his camo tee. Max, for the record, would still like the shirt off.