Dogmeat (Fallout 4)



Dogmeat (named Dog until the player character speaks to Mama Murphy about his true name or until he finds Kellogg) is a dog living in the Commonwealth.

Background
Currently, no information is known about Dogmeat's past and whether or not he had an owner. However, Mama Murphy tells the Sole Survivor the dog's name, suggests that he was traveling with Preston Garvey's group and reveals that Dogmeat was sent out to look for help when they became trapped in Concord, which would imply that he belonged to either Preston Garvey himself, or the Minutemen in general. True to this suggestion, if Dogmeat is recruited at Red Rocket, he will try to move toward Concord when standing still, although ultimately where the Sole Survivor goes is up to them and this can be ignored.

In addition, several other dogs can be recruited as companions with the same characteristics as Dogmeat. These include varying breeds such as the mongrel, rottweiler, and boxer. One has to find an NPC named Gene and he will offer to sell the dog for 250 caps after a medium speech check (for the Rottweiler and Boxer).

To obtain a mongrel, one has to wander around non-populated areas such as forests around Sanctuary Hills. An injured mongrel will be encountered and the player has the option to stimpak him. The Sole Survivor will dub the mongrel Sparky and will then become a companion. However, if a companion is already present, the mongrel will glitch and not be available for recruitment.

Other interactions
Like every companion character, the Sole Survivor can command Dogmeat to do certain tasks, such as commanding him to go to a certain location of the Sole Survivor's choosing or fetching an item for the player character. Dogmeat can also do tricks.

Equipment
Dogmeat can be equipped with a variety of cosmetic items.

Effects of player's actions

 * Dogmeat is found at a Red Rocket station near Sanctuary Hills and can be recruited as a companion.
 * Dogmeat can also be found, if he already isn't met at Red Rocket, will be called by Nick Valentine by a whistle during the quest Getting a Clue when dogmeat is needed.
 * By reading the Astoundingly Awesome Tales, the Sole Survivor can boost Dogmeat with perks, which reduce damage dealt to him.

Range of interests
Dogmeat loves the Sole Survivor unconditionally, and thus is neither negatively nor positively influenced by their actions. As of the base game, he is the only companion, aside from temporary NPCs in the party, who is considered to be truly neutral.

Appearances
This Dogmeat, who is based on the previous games' counterparts, appears in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes
Dogmeat is modeled after River, a female German Shepherd, owned by Michelle Burgess who is the wife of Joel Burgess, Senior Designer at Bethesda Softworks.

Bugs

 * Randomly, the game may say Dogmeat (Fallout 4) has found something, with Dogmeat running off into the distance, and never seeing him again.