Dogmeat (Fallout 3)

Dogmeat is the dog companion of the Vault 101 Dweller. His name is an homage to the Dogmeat from the first Fallout and, according to the developers, he's the descendant of Vault Dweller's original canine companion that died in a horrible accident involving a force field. Also, the first appearance of Dogmeat in the original Fallout game can be considered an homage to the character "Dog", Mad Max's canine companion in The Road Warrior (AKA Mad Max 2 Internationally.) To obtain Dogmeat as your companion in Fallout 1, you had to be wearing a Black Leather Jacket, making your character look like Max.

Dogmeat possesses in-game dog AI and is designed to help the player in-game: if enemies are nearby, he will growl. His main combat use, apart from minor damage, is distracting the character's adversary, as he's coded to be a higher priority target than the player's character. Dogmeat can also be used to fetch supplies, such as food, ammo and weapons (for some reason being able to bypass locked containers to get them).

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 and in the released game, Dogmeat is found in a fixed location all the time, the Scrapyard, south of Minefield. He is found attacking and killing several raiders, but approaches the player peacefully and will join him if asked.

If the player reaches the Scrapyard and does not enter it, or somehow manages to pass by and trigger the event without speaking to Dogmeat, it is still possible to encounter him later in a random encounter. He will sometimes come to your aid when you are facing overwhelming odds, such as a larger group of Talon Company Mercs in the wasteland. If during your travels you see the words "Dogmeat is Unconscious" appear at the top of the screen, it means he is nearby somewhere and is likely being attacked. Dogmeat cannot die before you have recruited him.

Shooting Dogmeat in the initial encounter without talking to him can make it impossible for the player to recruit him. He will appear outside Vault 101, but cannot be engaged in dialogue.

Appearances
Dogmeat, while named just like the one from Fallout, is a new character that appears only in Fallout 3.

Abilities
You can send Dogmeat to search your current area for either ammo, chems, food or weapons; have him stay in his current location; heal him with stimpaks; or send him to Vault 101's entrance for safety. Dogmeat can set off traps and will attack enemies, even if they are strong melee fighters.

You can check Dogmeat's health by aiming at him or targeting him in V.A.T.S. This will tell you his health, though it will not provide any information about limb injuries. He doesn't get particular damage in a single extremity, you can tell this by the fact none of his body parts will fall off as they normally do when a specific area is targeted. (I used grenades and mines to test this) Also, if you engage an enemy that Dogmeat is also attacking, it appears that Dogmeat can be wounded by your missed V.A.T.S. shots (as well as missed regular shots).

He has quite a lot of health, more than the player, and can withstand sustained gunfire or a few grenades before dying. Provided you finish combat, there are no visible enemies, and nobody is actively attacking, Dogmeat's health is restored to full. This always happens after combat, making him quite easy to keep alive against lesser foes. Dogmeat can also be talked to in combat, and you can use a stimpak on him to heal him to full health, if it looks like he's not going to make it through a fight. The player must also be very careful of strong melee opponents like Yao Guais or Deathclaws, as they will kill Dogmeat with just a few melee attacks. Dogmeat will sometimes retreat if he is being shot by enemies he cannot reach, but not always, so it is not recommended he be commanded to stay in his current location if an area contains turrets.

Dogmeat may not be a very good companion for a stealthy killer. He can detect enemies in adjoining rooms or on floors above and below you, just as you can with Perception. When his perception stat picks up a target, he growls. While the growling does not appear to give away your position, it does make it hard for you to hear your enemies. He will also initiate combat on his own, even if you are not yet detected. He can even open doors on his own to attack. This may force you to choose between letting Dogmeat fend for himself until you are ready, or to engage in hasty combat, forfeiting the advantages of stealth attacks. There is not currently an option to prevent Dogmeat from attacking any enemies he sees. You can however tell Dogmeat to "wait here, and don't move until I come back" before heading into a dangerous area you wish to sneak in.

If the player has Dogmeat then he can still have another follower. Interestingly, Dogmeat appears to have a reserved spot as a companion, so if he dies or if you kill him, you are free to recruit two of the other followers at once. This may be a bug, but if dogmeat is killed by you and you have Charon's Contract, Charon becomes hostile and attacks you, making you unable to recruit him.

Also in Dogmeat's dialogue, there are the "Scold" and "Praise" options. These however, do nothing at all and appear to be there purely for Role-Playing or flavor reasons.

Note

 * It is possible to exploit Dogmeat via having him retrieve objects from locked containers.


 * Dogmeat will return to the entrance of Vault 101 when the Player is captured and taken to Raven Rock and when entering the pod at Vault 112 (Tranquility Lane). (Maybe with other quests too)


 * Dogmeat can be made to carry items. Simply order him to return to Vault 101, sneak, then activate him. The pick pocket screen will appear. Unfortunately, retrieving items in this same manner will cause you to lose Karma.


 * He has Heterochromia: his right eye is brown, while his left eye is blue. His breed is an Alaskan Malamute.


 * Dogmeat often has trouble with stairs. He will hop down them making huge, unnecessary jumps, and he often ends up floating and then shaking and ending up somewhere completely different than where he was trying to go.
 * Dogmeat will not jump up ledges and may refuse to jump down some other ledges, causing him to take huge detours to follow you around the wasteland, especially around rocky terrain.


 * If Dogmeat is killed in the PC version of Fallout 3, he can be respawned at your position using the console commands "prid 0006a775", "resurrect", "moveto player", and "resetquest 943ed" without quotation marks. Talk to him, and recruit him again -- it will be as if you're meeting him again for the first time in the scrapyard.


 * It has been reported that if you tell Dogmeat to wait in your Megaton house or your Tenpenny Tower suite while you purchase a theme, he may disappear.


 * In the Wasteland Explorer & Vault Theme for the Megaton House, Dogmeat will walk over the respective benches as if it weren't there. The bench does hinder Dogmeats movements and he seems to almost float over it.


 * In the PC version of Fallout 3, you can use the console to make sure the character never dies. The character will, instead of dying, be rendered unconscious and recover after a while. Console command for |Dogmeat: This is highly recommended. The dog is in many ways the best companion, but his health is extremely hard to monitor, and as combat become more treacherous he WILL die. Too bad that you couldn't buy a puppy etc from a trader. (See remarks on "Companions")

Statistics

 * Health: 500
 * SPECIAL
 * Strength: 7
 * Perception: 8
 * Endurance: 7
 * Charisma: 6
 * Intelligence: 2
 * Agility: 8
 * Luck: 3

Glitches

 * Although it may not be a glitch, Dogmeat has trouble with stairs, and will make large, unnecessary leaps to get up and down staircases. If watching closely he may appear to float for a moment.


 * If the player leaves Dogmeat in his/her home during a quest Dogmeat might bug out of the house and might be encountered randomly during Your current quest, or the message "Dogmeat is waiting outside of Vault 101" will randomly pop up. If this occurs the player will later have to retrieve him.

Dogmeat dissappeared quite a few times in my experience(Xbox360, when not being on a quest). It happened when entering and leaving the Dunwich Building, and once inside Evergreen Mills. I was able to get him back by fast traveling to random locations.
 * He also has a tendency to just disappear. Once encountered while trying to enter Springvale School.  Also once outside of the Nuka-Cola Factory.  The last instance he was stuck in a pile of debris.  Tried to Fast travel back to Megaton but didn't come with.  Fast Travel back showed he was gone, but no trace of him has been seen since.

Hoax

 * There is a viral hoax that Dogmeat can use weapons, or in particular Wazer Wifle. See Wazer Wifle Hoax.