Dogmeat (Fallout 3)

Dogmeat is the possible dog companion of the Lone Wanderer in 2277.

Background
His name is a homage to the Dogmeat from the first Fallout and, according to the developers, he's the descendant of the Vault Dweller's original canine companion that died in a horrible accident involving a force field.

Recruiting Dogmeat
Dogmeat is found in the Scrapyard South of Minefield fighting several raiders. He will join your party regardless of your karma. Shooting Dogmeat in the initial encounter without talking to him will make it impossible for the player to recruit him. He will appear outside Vault 101, but cannot be engaged in dialogue.
 * If Dogmeat is recruited after installing the add-on Broken Steel, Dogmeat levels with the player and will have a massive amount of health. See bugs section.

Retrieving Items
Dogmeat can be used to fetch supplies, such as ammunition, chems, food or weapons, and he is able to bypass locked containers to get them. He can even enter Vault 101 if asked to search for something.

Combat
If enemies are nearby, Dogmeat will growl. Since he's coded to be a higher priority target than the player's character, Dogmeat will draw attackers' attention away from the player character. Dogmeat has a faster running speed than most humans and can run them down if they're fleeing.

Dogmeat and Other Followers

 * If Dogmeat is in your party, you can still have another follower.

Other Useful Information

 * In Dogmeat's dialogue, there are "Scold" and "Praise" options. These however, do nothing at all and appear to be there purely for flavor.
 * If the user opts for the Puppies! perk then after his death, Dogmeat's Puppy spawns at the location of his death and/or in front of Vault 101. Exploitation of this perk is probably the easiest way to get multiple followers.
 * It is worth noting that if paralyzed (through use of the Paralyzing Palm perk), the player can then activate Dogmeat and store items whose weight total exceeds 10,000lbs. Asking him to fetch you an item at any time after he recovers will return all stored items. (PS3 and Xbox 360) Another option is to order Dogmeat to return to Vault 101, at which point he will turn around and slowly start to walk away. By crouching and activating the "Talk" option, it will actually open up Dogmeat's inventory, allowing the storage and retrieval of items. This works as a great substitute to the Paralyzing Palm option for those who either do not have the perk or don't want to expend VATS points on attacking Dogmeat, however it will result in a loss of Karma. Items can also be retrieved by using the search option explained above.
 * A useful bug to get weapons in locked cases is simply to ask Dogmeat to search for a weapon. If he is close enough he will run towards the locked case and give you the weapon.
 * Another useful way to store items in Dogmeat is to get a weapon with a knock-down effect (such as the Victory rifle or Gauss rifle) and critical hit dogmeat (or sneak critical hit him). While he is down walk up to him, the option of talking to him will appear, but instead his inventory will open up. This method is not adviseable for those who do not have Broken Steel installed, because doing this before installing BS and recruiting Dogmeat may kill him instead of knocking him down, due to his low health. This is probably the easiest and safest method, especially since doing this will grant you no negative karma.


 * Note: To put explosives into Dogmeat without setting them of, do not crouch. You can put in as many grenades, mines, etc. as you want without making them 'live.'

Bugs

 * If Dogmeat is following you, he will be stuck in the doorway leading out of your room after you sleep in My Megaton House. This is easily fixed by simply telling him to go find something, like ammo or food. When he starts to run, simply catch up and tell him to stop looking.
 * There is a bug where, when exiting conversation, Dogmeat will cock his head and be silent, but subtitle text will appear saying: "Come back if you need something."
 * In Little Lamplight, if Dogmeat is following you, and you go into the testing chamber to explore, Dogmeat may appear dead while exiting. Example: When you realize Dogmeat is not following you, then you go back to check on him Dogmeat will appear dead. Then while leaving a room or house, Dogmeat's dead body will spawn outside next to where you entered. This bug does not mention to you that Dogmeat has been killed-so Dogmeat's body will take up a companion slot.
 * When exiting the Dunwich Building, Dogmeat sometimes will not exit with you. He will still be inside if you go back in, but will not exit with you. Simply telling Dogmeat to meet you at Vault 101, and exiting, will allow you to reunite with him.
 * There's a rather annoying bug which, upon asking Dogmeat to look for a weapon, he will, instead run up to you and initiate conversation.


 * There is also another glitch to get dogmeat to follow you to Point Lookout. When you wait by the boat that takes you to point lookout, ask Dogmeat (or his puppy) to look for ammo or chems. Then travel to Point Lookout and wait about 2 days. He should then appear in Point Lookout.
 * Dogmeat's level scaling in Broken Steel is set up improperly, causing him to gain 5 times the health and damage dealt than what was intended.
 * The game might crash if you try to talk to Dogmeat while the battle is still ongoing in the Scrapyard. Therefore kill all raiders, wait for him to stop growling and THEN initiate conversation in order to recruit him. (GOTY edition)

Appearances
This Dogmeat only appears in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * Before the release of Fallout 3, the process of how to recruit Dogmeat had only been shown as a small clip as the player holds something out to the wounded dog. The item is not revealed. Dogmeat was said to be found in a random encounter, which would appear in different places depending on where the player ventures to, but was meant to appear early on to help develop your bond with the dog. This was scrapped in the released game.
 * In the 1976 post-apocalyptic movie A Boy and His Dog, the main character calls the dog (named "Blood") "Dog Meat" once, at the start of the film.
 * Dogmeat is modeled after the dog in the movie Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior). The main character Max, played by Mel Gibson, had a dog that wandered with him. Dogmeat is the same breed as Max's dog, an Australian cattle dog.
 * There is a viral hoax that Dogmeat can use the wazer wifle. See wazer wifle hoax.

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