Dogs in medieval fantasy worlds

[Scalenex]

I personally just do not see dogs being used as a main household pet like it is in the real world when it comes to a fantasy world. Most of the things that would plague a normal farmer in a fantasy world is not going to be deterred by a dog at all. While the normal animal might actually be intimidated and run from a dog there are a number of creatures that are just so powerful they'll eat the dog eat the farmer and then eat anything else.

At the very least, the dog can be the proverbial canary in the coal mine to warn you of danger coming if it suddenly barks excitedly than is silenced with a yelp.

Otherwise the rationale is "Well the monster is just going to eat me anyway, I don't want to drag an innocent dog into this too."

Can rats be domesticated?

Or more accurately, do rats have the same pack hunting and friendship instincts dogs have that make them such good partners with humans? I know rats can make good pets, but what about good partners?

In a fantasy setting, ANYTHING can be domesticated if the story requires it.

I'm not sure about making domesticated giant rats omnipresent but enough cases have been made expounding on their potential uses that I at least one or two regions or cultures to use them.

Dog Whistles

Silver Whistle: summons a War Dog with barding to faithfully serve its master for 10 turns.

Wooden Whistle: summons a wolf.

Iron Whistle: summons a Hell Hound.

Whistles are either charged or single use items. Although all three summon Lawful creatures, how the creature obeys may be affected by differences along the G-E axis between summoned and summoner.

Clever and punny

Guard Dog:

This statue depicts a large canine patiently waiting. When an event triggers it, usually when a protected space is entered, the statue animates and either barks or attacks. The statue is a 2hd war dog with a stoneskin effect.

Since gargoyles supposedly ward off evil (and I really like the 1990s Gargoyles show) I had the same concept for Gargoyles statues that come to life in temples and wail on foes with their stony fists.

I suppose not every statue guardian needs to look like an ugly gargoyle. One my goddesses as dogs as one of her sacred animals so her temples might have guard dogs.

[DeathbyFlossing]

It’s worth noting that dogs are also labor animals. ‘Turnspit dogs’ would run in a hamster-wheel gizmo attached to meat cooking on a spit, turning the spit to keep the meat cooking evenly. Great Danes were bred to pull carts. Saint Bernards are literally living blankets, bred to track down people lost in the snow and lie on them to warm them with their body heat until they were recovered enough to follow the dog back to the Monestary.

A 1st-level guard with wisdom 10 and 1 rank in Perception/ Spot, Search, and Listen isn’t really a threat to a 3rd level rogue, or a sorcerer who can cast invisibility. Pair him with a dog trained to sniff out intruders - invisible or otherwise - and he becomes a lot more dangerous. A dog could be trained to silently sneak back to the boss and then bark like a madman if it scented orcs or trolls or something. There are a lot of things you can do with dogs.

Also, dog poop is useful for a lot of industrial uses prior to the development of a robust chemical industry. In Victorian England, people actually made a living collecting dog poop and selling it to be used in various processes (I think tanning was one of them, which was part of why tanneries smelled so infamously bad).

[Mark Hall]

Has anyone talked about the mabari of Ferelden?

[wilphe]

I personally just do not see dogs being used as a main household pet like it is in the real world when it comes to a fantasy world. Most of the things that would plague a normal farmer in a fantasy world is not going to be deterred by a dog at all.

If dogs are irrelevant because things are too dangerous then so are Level 1 Commoners...

[Laserlight]

Dogs are natural sprinters, not long distance travelers.

Are you sure about that? My impression was that dogs / wolves are cursorial hunters, ie even if they don't outsprint their prey, they outlast it. "It doesn't matter if you win the 100 meters, as long as I beat you in the 1000."

Depends on the breed of dog, of course. I don't imagine dachshunds are optimized for long distances.

[Scalenex]

It’s worth noting that dogs are also labor animals. ‘Turnspit dogs’ would run in a hamster-wheel gizmo attached to meat cooking on a spit, turning the spit to keep the meat cooking evenly. Great Danes were bred to pull carts. Saint Bernards are literally living blankets, bred to track down people lost in the snow and lie on them to warm them with their body heat until they were recovered enough to follow the dog back to the Monestary.

I really like this kind of trivia. That's awesome.

A 1st-level guard with wisdom 10 and 1 rank in Perception/ Spot, Search, and Listen isn’t really a threat to a 3rd level rogue, or a sorcerer who can cast invisibility. Pair him with a dog trained to sniff out intruders - invisible or otherwise - and he becomes a lot more dangerous. A dog could be trained to silently sneak back to the boss and then bark like a madman if it scented orcs or trolls or something. There are a lot of things you can do with dogs.

That's a good idea.

Also, dog poop is useful for a lot of industrial uses prior to the development of a robust chemical industry. In Victorian England, people actually made a living collecting dog poop and selling it to be used in various processes (I think tanning was one of them, which was part of why tanneries smelled so infamously bad).

I understand that human poop carries a fair number of diseases and parasites but I don't see how dog poop would be more useful for industry than say the manure of cows, sheep, pigs, and goats. My world has lots of goats and pigs.

Has anyone talked about the mabari of Ferelden?

I have no idea who or what that is.

Are you sure about that? My impression was that dogs / wolves are cursorial hunters, ie even if they don't outsprint their prey, they outlast it. "It doesn't matter if you win the 100 meters, as long as I beat you in the 1000."

That is how Neolithic humans beat their prey too. Though in their case they might track their quarry over 5,000 to 10,000 meters.

Depends on the breed of dog, of course. I don't imagine dachshunds are optimized for long distances.

Dachshunds were bred to hunt rabbits. Their builds let them crawl into burrows.

[Rockphed]

Are you sure about that? My impression was that dogs / wolves are cursorial hunters, ie even if they don't outsprint their prey, they outlast it. "It doesn't matter if you win the 100 meters, as long as I beat you in the 1000."

Depends on the breed of dog, of course. I don't imagine dachshunds are optimized for long distances.

Part of why dogs were domesticated is because they can keep up with humans reasonably well in the long haul. That is rare among creatures with higher top speed than us. That they are have different senses and are social makes them all the more useful.

All the things people have traditionally used dogs for are done in stereotypical fantasy worlds. People raise cattle, sheep, and goats and probably find it useful to have dogs to help with some of that. People have problems with normal rodents. People hunt various animals.

[Mark Hall]

https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Mabari

Mabari war hounds are a breed of intelligent dogs magically created by the mages of the Tevinter Imperium. When the Tevinter mages brought the mabari to help subdue the local barbarian tribes of Ferelden centuries ago, the dogs defected to the barbarians. Ever since then, Fereldans and their Alamarri ancestors popularized the mabari as attack dogs, status symbols, and lifelong companions.

Basically, Mabari are not quite human-smart, but very intelligent, able to understand language, and communicate pretty eloquently with their limited vocal and physical apparatus (i.e. they can't speak, but they can follow your conversation, let you know if they agree or disagree, and so on). They're so loved in Fereldan that the Fereldans are often called "Dog Lords" by others (at least, in Kirkwall in the Free Marches).

[SandyAndy]

There was a breed of dog that existed solely to turn the rotisserie spit over a fire. The rat terrier was bred to murder the crap out of rats, and they're way better at it than cats are. Retriever breeds are there to catch game birds shot by hunters, hounds are bred to chase game, and pointers to alert hunters to the presence of game. The Newfoundland and Saint Bernard are both bred to rescue full grown men, one from water and one from snow. There are dogs for every different job you can think of. So a lot of things would need a different breed for the different races but a lot of things could be handled by the same breed regardless of the race of the handler.

[brian 333]

Canine Familiar:

Coming in a wide variety of coat patterns and builds, these animals are more than simple companions. They are as intelligent as an average human, and though they cannot speak, they can understand the master's spoken language and can communicate a wide variety of concepts through body language and emotional context.

All Canine Familiars have all of the abilities of a dog and of a familiar. In addition, any Canine Familiar can track via scent as a ranger of the mage's level.

Beginning at third level the Canine Familiar gains a feat, and may choose any non-combat feat available to a Ranger or one from the list below.

Detect Magic as a wizard (-2 to Spellcraft check)

Detect Etheral via scent/tracking check (-4)

Sense Hostile Motive of beings which interact with its master as the skill at one rank per 2 levels of the master

Find Master. If separated from its master it can, even in the absence of any means of tracking, know the general direction and distance it must travel to reunite with its master

Find Home. As above, but it will go to its master's last residence.

Flank Attack any being which is attacking its master for an additional d6 damage per 5 levels of its master. This damage stacks with any other damage type.

At Level 6 the Canine Familiar gains access to the Ranger's combat feats, and the following list.

+1 Bite. This is an Enhancement Bonus.

Detect Shadow via scent/tracking check

Spellcraft at one rank per two arcane levels of the master. This skill caps at the master's skill level -2

At level 12 the Canine Familiar gains access to the following feats.

+2 Bite

Cast Cantrip. A chosen cantrip can be cast once per day as if by a Sorceror. This feat may be chosen multiple times to allow multiple castings of the same cantrip or to allow the casting of another cantrip.

At 18th level the Canine Familiar gains access to the following list.

+3 bite

Planar Adaptability. This ability allows the familiar to travel to exotic planes and adapt so that environmental conditions do not harm it. This is not to be confused with elemental damage reduction; it applies only to the natural effects of a plane. While on the Elemental Plane of Fire the familiar with this feat takes no damage from the environment, but does take fire damage from attacks. The same familiar would burn if it tried to stand in a campfire.

[Lemmy]

So... Two reasons not to use giant rats:

- They are rodents. Which means they have to keep using their teeth. IRL, normal rats cost tens of thousands of dollars in infrastructure damage. Imagine what large rats could do... A single group of strays could cause massive damage.

- AFAIK they form social groups, but not hierarchies. So they don't really have that "follow the leader" instinct for breeders to exploit.

- Short lives. Rats have very short life spams. Which may limit how much use of their intelligence and training one can make... Even if a giant rat lives twice as long.

- They wouldn't be as good for hunting and protection. Rats eat meat, but they aren't dedicated hunters. Their primary instinct would be to avoid/run from other animals and intruders.

Now... You can obviously change these things, but then you're just reinventing dogs.