When we are first introduced to Ariel, we find her ditching a ceremony and spying on humans instead. This is done to show us how fond Ariel is of our world. While she should be singing prettily along with her sisters, she is following a massive ship that is celebrating Prince Eric's birthday. This will be the first time Ariel sees her handsome prince and falls madly in love. She loves him so much that she is willing to make a deal with the Sea Witch Ursula to be near him. This might seem a little drastic to most of us, but without it, we would not have much of a story to watch. 

But Prince Eric is not the first person she sees on that fateful night. Instead, Ariel is greeted by Eric's intelligent Old English Sheepdog. Max catches Ariel's scent, and recognizing her as a friendly being, immediately licks her on the cheek. Just as she is about to leave, she turns around and catches sight of Prince Eric who came to get his dog. If you think about it, Max led to their meeting. Max further proved himself a true friend of Eric's when he disapproved of the pretentious statue given to Eric for his birthday. The two obviously had a very special bond, because when the ship was about to sink, Eric went back to save Max who was stranded on board. Later, Max tries his best to save Eric. And with the help of Ariel, he manages to do so. In his eyes, Ariel was the perfect girl for his best friend. 

When Ariel returns to dry land with her legs, Max is the first one to greet her. He is excited because he recognized her as the girl who saved Eric's life, even if Eric did not recognize her. All throughout the story, Max proves that he was much smarter than he is given credit for. He immediately senses something is wrong with Vanessa and tries his best to get her away from Eric. At the end of the movie, when Eric is marrying the right girl, he cannot contain his excitement and gives them both a lot of affection. We are sure that when Eric saw how much Max loved Ariel, he fell a little more in love with her too. After all, it's difficult to be in a relationship with someone your dog disapproves of.