Dog

Dogs are one of the most useful domestic animals. They can be traded for in many villages, and come in two different colors with no difference between them. They can fight for you, and are very good at doing so, attacking by savaging your enemies. Anything which is aggressive towards you (has red dashes showing) will be targeted by your dogs. Be warned, though - once off the leash, they will not necessarily return to you. Dogs can also carry small amounts of items, with bigger dogs being able to carry more. Items packed onto a dog will encumber it, however, and should be unloaded if they are being used to fight or hunt.

Dogs also come in different sizes. Their sprite will not look any different, but their description will say dog, big dog, or small dog to indicate their size. While larger dogs are capable of sustaining slightly more damage than smaller ones, smaller dogs are better at avoiding attacks and are harder to hit with projectiles. When hunting, smaller dogs also appear to have a lower thresh-hold for things that they chase to exhaustion rather than attacking and killing, making hunting smaller animals for skins slightly easier. In order to qualify for a size descriptor, a dog merely needs to be within a certain size range and can vary in size even within a group of only big or only small dogs. Even within these constraints, however, dogs can still have varying levels of aggression and attributes. Dog hides give leather when tanned. As of 3.40, dog hides are considered fur.

A dog needs to be put on a leash as soon as it is bought or it will run away. When you buy a dog you are also given a rope. Apply the rope to the dog to leash it. You can tie them on a tree or fences (or separate them on several trees to feed them more properly)

Dogs will stop running away and circle a small area for several turns if a hunting horn is used.

Furthermore, it is possible to name your dog as well as leave it off the leash. It will become loyal and follow you around. Thus, commanding it to attack off-leash will enable the dog to chase prey and slow it down for you to deliver the final blow. If you do not tie them to a tree out of reach, dogs will start to eat a carcass, damaging the skin and most likely diminishing the cuts to be gotten from it.

If injured, a dog will be fully recovered after 3 days as long as they do not get any more injuries before then.

Several unleashed dogs can even kill a Njerpez without the player's help, much like a pack of wolves.

Leashed dogs will still try to move towards and attack aggressive targets, even if they are beyond their reach.

Dogs can be fed and will bark in hunger whenever they need food. Going too long without feeding them has negative effects on their stamina, making them tire very quickly if they are told to chase or fight something while starving.

To feed dogs, drop food within their reach and leave it there. Throwing food at the dog is another quick way to do this, though hitting the dog with the food should be avoided as that may cause the dog to try and run away or attack you. Some times dogs won't see nearby food, just command them to eat now. Dogs will not eat unpaid food in the villages, but if there's nobody, they will happily eat it. Dogs eat raw meat and fish, fat and some cooked meals. Dogs will also eat spoiled raw meat or raw fish, but spoiled cooked foods will be ignored. When dogs are full, commanding them to eat now will cause them to bark in disagreement.

When choosing what to feed a dog, weight appears to be more important than nutrition, since how much the dog can eat at once is not limited by how hungry they feel like the player. This makes large but low nutrition food, like pike or pest animal meat, preferable to use as feed.