Vicious dog



Vicious Dogs are a nearly hairless species of wasteland canine, apparently Pitbulls. 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 seen by the game's lack of Mutant Dogs).

Strategy
Vicious dogs by themselves are not very dangerous unless you are already badly injured or there are a lot of them, which most of the time they will be. They have a high perception and can easily detect you from afar. Don't be surprised if they sense you from afar or if you get attacked from behind by one, as they are quite sneaky as well.

Dogs are not particularly tough and one or two shots from a hunting rifle is usually enough to put one down. However, they move quite quickly and can easily close the gap between them and the player.

After obtaining the Animal Friend perk, they will no longer attack you or your party unless provoked. Having the second level of the perk is almost useless when dealing with these creatures as they attack just about anything anyway.

Loot

 * Vicious Dog corpses contain dog meat, which is hardly worth eating.



Appearances
Vicious Dogs appear only in Fallout 3.