The Vault - Fallout Wiki

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The Vault - Fallout Wiki
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For the dog from Fallout and Fallout 2, see Dogmeat. For the Fallout 3 item, see Dog Meat.

Template:Character

 
Gametitle-FO3
Gametitle-FO3

Dogmeat is the possible dog companion of the Lone Wanderer in 2277.

Background

His name is a homage to the Dogmeat from the first Fallout and, according to the developers, he's the descendant of the Vault Dweller's original canine companion that died in a horrible accident involving a force field.

Interactions with the player character

Interactions overview

General Services Quests
Essential: Yes
  • Until recruited by the player
Enslavable: No
Companion: Yes
  • Permanent
Bounty: No
Merchant: No
Repairman: No
Doctor: No
Rents bed/room: No
Starts quests: No
Involved in quests: No

Quests

Other interactions

  • Recruiting Dogmeat: Dogmeat is found in the Scrapyard south of Minefield fighting several raiders. He will join your party regardless of your karma. 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. If Dogmeat is recruited after downloading the add-on Broken Steel, Dogmeat levels with the player and will have a massive amount of health.
    • Shooting Dogmeat in the initial encounter without talking to him will make it impossible for the player to recruit him. He will appear outside Vault 101, but cannot be engaged in dialogue.
  • Retrieving items: Dogmeat can be used to fetch supplies, such as ammunition, chems, food or weapons, and he is able to bypass locked containers to get them. He can even enter Vault 101 if asked to search for something.
  • Combat: If enemies are nearby, Dogmeat will growl. Since he's coded to be a higher priority target than the player's character, Dogmeat will draw attackers' attention away from the player character. Dogmeat has a faster running speed than most humans and can run them down if they're fleeing.
  • Dogmeat and other followers: If Dogmeat is in your party, you can still have another follower.
  • In Dogmeat's dialogue, there are "Scold" and "Praise" options. These however, do nothing at all and appear to be there purely for flavor.
  • If the user opts for the Puppies! perk then after his death, Dogmeat's Puppy spawns at the location of his death and/or in front of Vault 101. Exploitation of this perk is probably the easiest way to get multiple followers.

Notes

Bugs

  • If Dogmeat is following you, he will be stuck in the doorway leading out of your room after you sleep in My Megaton House. This is easily fixed by simply telling him to go find something, like ammo or food. When he starts to run, simply catch up and tell him to stop looking.
  • There is a bug where, when exiting conversation, Dogmeat will cock his head and be silent, but subtitle text will appear saying: "Come back if you need something."

Appearances

Dogmeat (this one) only appears in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

  • 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 in the released game.
  • In the the 1976 post-apocalyptic movie A Boy and His Dog, the main character calls his dog "dog meat" when angry with him.
  • Dogmeat is modeled after the dog in the movie Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior). The main character Max, played by Mel Gibson, had a dog that wandered with him. Dogmeat is the same breed as Max's dog, an Australian cattle dog.
  • There is a viral hoax that Dogmeat can use the Wazer Wifle. See Wazer Wifle hoax.

Gallery

Template:FO3 companions

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