Vicious dog

Vicious Dogs are a nearly hairless species of wasteland canine, apparently Rottweilers. Ruthless survivors of the wastes, these starving irradiated mutts will attack anything that moves, including you. In Fallout 3 they replace both Wild and Mutant Dogs of the previous Fallout games as one of the only hostile canines a player will encounter (aside from Raider and Talon Company guard dogs).

Compared to other animals such as bears and cows, dogs have been relatively unaffected by the Wasteland's radiation (as can be see by the game's lack of Mutant Dogs).

Strategy
A Vicious Dog encounter isn't very dangerous, unless the player is already severely wounded, or there's a big pack of them. They have really high Perception, so don't be surprised if they sense you from far away, even if you aren't in their line of sight. They are also surprisingly sneaky, so you might be walking the Capital Wasteland and suddenly get jumped from behind by one. They attack by biting you with various pounce attacks.

After obtaining the Animal Friend perk, they will no longer attack you or your party unless provoked. They can even fight for you after you get the second rank, which can be very helpful as they often run in packs.

Loot

 * Vicious Dog corpses contain dog meat, and much as it is today, it's hardly worth eating.


 * Dog meat has one of the worst radiation (+2) to health (+5) ratios of any wasteland food source.

Appearances
Vicious Dogs appear only in Fallout 3.