Dogmeat (Fallout)

For the Fallout 3 dog named after this one, see: Dogmeat (Fallout 3)

Dogmeat is a dog that could be found in Junktown, a reference to the dog Mad Max has in the film Road Warrior. He could be found terrorizing Phil, an old man in Junktown, by 'guarding' the doorway to his house and keeping him out; the protagonist could distract him for the old man by acquiring his companionship. This could be achieved by feeding him iguana-on-a-stick (or the human-variant...) or wearing a black leather jacket, which would remind him of his previous owner - i.e. a reference to Mad Max - who also had such a jacket, leading the dog to believe it was he who returned. Unfortunately he hasn't, since he had been killed by thugs hired by Gizmo (most likely the Skulz) about a month ago. In the Vault Dwellers memoirs it is disclosed that Dogmeat died in the military base after running into a forcefield.

Appearances in games
Dogmeat appears in Fallout, Fallout demo and also as a part of an easter egg in Fallout 2 (he is found in the random encounter Cafe of Broken Dreams). He was not going to appear in Van Buren.

A similar dog also named Dogmeat makes an appearance in the Bethesda-produced Fallout 3 as the new Vault Dweller's companion. He is found in a junkyard attacking a group of five raiders who killed his previous owner. He comes with the ability to sniff out ammo, chems and food for the player. Dogmeat does not count against the player's max number of followers, meaning that players can have both Dogmeat and another NPC in their party.

There is a character in Troika Games' Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura who bears strong resemblance to Dogmeat. He is a dog, simply named Dog. He will remain 100% loyal to the player regardless of his actions (whether good or evil.) Dog is a powerful melee fighter dispite the fact that he cannot use weapons, items or armor. He also does not count against the player's max number of followers. It is likely that Dog and Dogmeat are the same character, as Troika Games consisted of former Interplay Entertainment staff—- most notably Tim Cain.

Behind the scenes
Scott Bennie was the designer who came up with the name "Dogmeat", which was initially applied to Jake's dog in the Hub (previously called Dogshit). Then Tim Cain or Jason Anderson applied it to the other pooch. My understanding was that it was from the movie A Boy and His Dog.