Hercules has always been better at communicating with animals than he has with people. There's a reason he and Chuck used Max as a sort of conduit for their relationship. He's not the best when it comes to human interaction. Not always.

But he's very good at interacting with animals. He gets down on the ground, scratches Priscilla around the collar, down her spine, across her belly, until the big dog is panting and wiggling, all her earlier apprehension gone. Max, the jealous creature he is, muscles in under one of Herc's hands, and then he's busy spoiling two huge bulldogs instead of just one.