How to tame a dog in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The hearts of Hylian hounds are easily won
How to tame a dog in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is straightforward enough once you know what you're doing, but like much else in the open-world game, you're left to figure it out mostly on your own.
Taming a dog isn't like taming a horse. You can't gallop around Hyrule on a Zelda version of a Labrador.
You can, however, convince your new furry friend to show you where some treasure is and get some handy equipment in the process.
How to tame a dog in Tears of the Kingdom
You can win a dog's heart in Tears of the Kingdom by giving it some food, ideally meat. They respond favorably to all kinds of raw or cooked meat, though they sometimes have a bit of extra pep if they eat gourmet or prime meat. Whether that's a random effect or they really just enjoy the finer things in life, I'm not entirely sure, but you can get by with just a drumstick if you don't have anything more succulent.
Where to find dogs in Tears of the Kingdom
If you're on a journey of doggy delights and want to track down some canine friends, you can usually find a dog at every stable. Some also hang out around important locations, like in the Misko quest.
How to feed a dog in Tears of the Kingdom
To feed a dog, open your inventory, find what you want to feed them, and hold it as if you were going to cook. Exit the menu, and drop the item on the ground in front of the dog. The dog will probably take a few seconds to circle it and wag their tail before getting started.
After they finish, the dog will have a glowing pink aura around their head and will either stick around wagging and looking at you adoringly or saunter off to find something useful. Every dog will react like this. Even if you aren't trying to complete a quest, you can often get a dog to dig up some useful item or other just by making friends with them.
If you're working on the Misko's Cave of Chests quest, taming the dog will prompt them to lead you to the treasure in the cave - theoretically. Some players are reporting that the dog just keeps hanging around and wanting more. If that happens to you, try giving them more valuable meat (or just follow our Misko's Cave of Chests guide).
If you're after more help in Tears of the Kingdom, check out our guides for how to unlock every Skyview Tower and where to get the Travel Medallion for more convenient fast travel.