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.

Dogmeat possesses lifelike AI and has many uses in wasteland survival. If enemies are nearby, he will growl. His main combat use, apart from minor damage, is distracting the character's adversary, giving the player an opportunity to establish an advantage. Dogmeat can also be used to fetch supplies, such as food, ammo and weapons. Another important note is that although Dogmeat will follow you anywhere in the Capital Wasteland, he is not invulnerable and can be killed in battle or even while acquiring items in a dangerous territory. If he dies, he cannot be revived.

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. In the released game, Dogmeat can instead be found in 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 through 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. As stated above, Dogmeat CAN die, however not before you have recruited him. Presumably he is invincible so that he doesn't get killed by a bad encounter before the player even has a chance to meet him.

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 does not seem to provide any information about severely injured limbs. 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).

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 can not reach, but not always, so it is not recommended he be commanded to stay in his current location if an area contains turrets. He has quite a lot of health, more than the player, and can withstand sustained gunfire or a few grenades before dying.

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.

One interesting fact about Dogmeat is that he doesn't count as a party member so you can have him and another follower with you.

Note

 * Dogmeat will return to the entrance of Vault 101 should he be forced to leave the player due to quest event.
 * In the PC version of Fallout 3, you can make Dogmeat 'invincible' by entering "setessential 6a772 1" in the console, without the quotation marks (the console can be activated by pressing ~). He can still take damage, but if he dies he'll just be rendered temporarily unconscious like any other essential character. While Dogmeat is invincible, he can still receive stimpaks from the player.
 * If Dogmeat is killed in the PC version of Fallout 3, he can be respawned at your position using the console command "player.PlaceAtMe 6a772 1" without quotation marks. This may be buggy, however, and you may have to kill Dogmeat and resurrect him using the resurrect command in the console for him to speak to you.