So I'm finally playing all the way through Fallout 4. I have a bad habit of starting games and then buying another game and forgetting about the first game. So I started playing Fallout 4 again about a month ago. I don't have much time to play with all the hours I work, but I'm doing it. I love this game so much. And my favorite companion is Dogmeat.

BUT I THINK I LOST HIM.

I had just done the quest where I found Strong and I had him come with me so I could go find some super mutant armor and equip it and blah blah blah. I sent Dogmeat back to Sanctuary Hills, but after finishing up with Strong, I went back to Sanctuary AND DOGMEAT IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. I waited. I slept. I left and came back, did a couple quests.

BUT MY DOGMEAT IS GONE AND I AM FREAKING OUT. HELP.

Oh Dogmeat. I feel like it is inevitable to lose him at some point in your playthrough lol. Here's a few suggestions that come to mind:

First, are you certain he was sent to Sanctuary Hills? Maybe you mis-clicked on a different settlement instead? I only say that because I've certainly done that before and have found a companion at a completely different settlement than what I thought I sent them to. I know it's tedious but it may not hurt to double-check.

Do you have any dog houses around Sanctuary Hills that you forgot to check? Sometimes he rests inside one of those.

Otherwise I was going to mention that sometimes a companion takes a while to reach their destination and maybe you just need to wait it out a little longer. But if you've done all those things and he still hasn't returned, I'm not sure if that's the case.

Do you have a bell in Sanctuary Hills? One of those bells that you ring and it takes all the settlers what feels like forever to group up around your bell? It may not hurt to try that. Perhaps Dogmeat is just being a stubborn dog and happens to always be where you're not lol.

I'm planning on settlement-hopping tonight to check for him. I only left one doghouse in the carport of the house I chose for myself - the others were scrapped for supplies. I will try the bell idea though, before I go to all the settlements. That's a good idea I hadn't even thought of. Thank you for your post!

Keeping one dog house is probably a good idea. I've got a few so I tend to have to check all of them, and sometimes Dogmeat will move by the time I get to the one he's at haha.

And no problem! I've used the bell as a last resort and sometimes that'll help me find a companion. I'd hate to say that it's a glitch otherwise. I've heard about Dogmeat being MIA when the game released, but that was like two years ago and I'd think they'd have the problem fixed by now, but who knows. I've had a couple times I reverted to an old save and lost like, two hours of gameplay due to something stupid happening.

[edit] (sorry if this double-pings!) Wanted to add one thought. If you decide to settlement-hop to see if he went elsewhere, I'd first start with the Red Rocket stop near Sanctuary Hills, where you first found Dogmeat. Some games have the logic where a NPC will wind up at the location where you first met that character/where it originally spawned, and a Google search showed me that Fallout 4 does that as well. It's possible he went to Red Rocket and is roaming around there. May not hurt to try the bell trick and/or sleep/wait there as well before going through the hassle of looking at other settlements lol.

One time I lost Hancock, and it turned out he was stuck on one of the roofs at Sanctuary. I didn't even think of checking until my BF joked "maybe he's on the roof" and ... there he was! Might be worth checking, weird as it is.

I once lost Dogmeat after not playing for awhile, and it turned out he was at Fort Hagen because of quest stuff. I doubt that's the issue here, though, since you specifically sent him there. P:

Oh my gooosh that's so funny because the same happened to both me AND my husband, with Hancock specifically! He was just chilling on the roof in Sanctuary Hills, minding his own business. Hancock's a rebel xD

If you have the Vault-Tec Workshops DLC, you can toggle the "quest" Overseer's Most Wanted and it will highlight companions.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Overseer's_Most_Wanted

Omfg, your 'on the roof' comment made me think about the last time I was in Sanctuary. I heard mooing and I looked up and Trashcan Carla's fucking brahmin was ON MY ROOF.

I don't even play, but I'm dying to know if you found Dogmeat?

I HAVEN'T! I'm afraid he's lost in the Commonwealth somewhere or just glitched out of the game. I checked every settlement, installed and rang bells in every settlement, and still no Dogmeat. T___T

I too have been curious of an update and I'm bummed to hear that he just practically, disappeared out of thin air! I do have a bad feeling it's a glitch. I'm surprised Bethesda hasn't fixed it yet.

Ummm...you said you released him when you teamed up with Strong, right? I know you find Strong at the Trinity Towers. Did you happen to go back there and see if Dogmeat like...got stuck around there? After some Googling I saw some people mention he sometimes gets stuck wherever you initially dismissed him. A couple people even mentioned they found Dogmeat stuck at the top of the tower, even though they dismissed Dogmeat on the ground.

IDK thought it was worth suggesting. I hope he didn't permanently glitch out of the game!

I will try that when I get home. If I have to search that whole damn tower for the damn dog, I'm going to be pissed, lmao.

I'd feel worse if you searched that whole tower but he wasn't there lol. I wouldn't be surprised if enemies respawn, too. It worked for some people though so who knows??

I will definitely try. And hey, more enemies, more xP. I'm good with that.

Keep me posted xD I'll let you know if I think or see any other suggestions, too!

I will, thank you!

[edit] I FOUND HIM. I FOUND MY DOGMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAT!!

BUT ANYWAYS.

I decided to go back to Trinity Tower, like you said, Tali. I even dismissed my current companion, Cait, before I got there, so I could just grab him if I found him. I walked all the way up that damn tower, killed the three super mutants that were left, got all the way to the top after searching ever nook and cranny and no Dogmeat. I was super bummed. So I took the top elevator thing back down and I'm looking in the areas on the way down as I pass them. I walk through the building half way down, you know, where you have to go to get the second elevator thing and on my way down, just past the weird yellow blocky section of wall where you can see inside again, THERE'S THE DAMN DOG PLAY BOWING AT ME. So I did what any intelligent person would do and lept to my death, trying to get to him. I had to play over and fucking over again probably 10 or so more times until I timed the jump right and landed on the level just above him so I could carefully fall and jump my way two more levels down to where he was. Once I got there, he was stuck in an 'off limits' area, just play bowing away at me, the little bastard. So finally I find a way to him by aiming my cursor just right and asking him to come with me. HAPPY TIMES RIGHT?! But then it wouldn't let me fast travel away because 'enemies are in the area' so I'm like wtf I thought I killed all them green bastards, but nope, one left. I finally edged just far enough to the edge where I got a bead on the last super mutant and blew his damn head off and then I could fast travel. Did so, back to Sanctuary, biting my damn nails the whole time that I really had Dogmeat and I did and he's back and it's all good now. I was yelling and shrieking and swearing and carrying on the whole time and my parents kept coming by my room all 'wtf is wrong with you'.

So yeah. DOGMEAT'S BAAAAACK! happy dance

[[CELEBRATORY HA INCOMING...]]

HOORAY I LOVE HAPPY ENDINGS <3

Idk why I didn't receive this ping???

But YAY I'm so happy to hear that you found Dogmeat! That'll totally give you a peace of mind and save your sanity as well, lol. It's so stupid, like how did Dogmeat even get himself stuck there in the first place? At least you have him now and hopefully the little brat won't do it again! Lol

[edit] Cause I literally pinged myself instead of lol

Yep! And now I'm back to yelling at him. "Damnit Dogmeat! Get out of the damn doorway so I can get through!" and "Damnit Dogmeat! Get your butt over here and hold still so you can carry my crap!" and "Damnit Dogmeat! I am not following you half way across the damn map so you can show me the junk you found!" and and and...

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