Dogmeat is a faithful, furry and most likely mangy friend from Black Isle Studios' standout RPG, Fallout (distributed by Interplay).
Unlike the other henchmen available to the Vault Dweller in the Wastelands, Dogmeat has no agenda. Dogmeat will always stick by your side--good or evil, right or wrong--Dogmeat is absolutely loyal. So loyal, in fact, that you cannot dismiss him. If you want to get rid him, you have to shoot him. A dog is a friend for life.
The Vault Dweller first encounters Dogmeat in the ramshackle and aptly-named village of Junktown. Exploring the city, you will find a local man who says he is being harrassed by a dog--it won't even let him enter his own house. Being the protagonist it, of course, falls into the VD's lap to solve this little problem. Though shooting the dog will certainly work, it won't earn you his never-ending love and devotion. To earn his services the Vault Dweller needs one of two things: 1) a snazzy leather jacket as is all the rage among hip road warriors or, 2) some tasty Iguana on a Stick. Wear the jacket or feed the dog and your four-footed companion will be by your side through thick and thin.
Dogmeat is, in fact, one of the most effective henchmen in combat. Dogmeat is fast, vicious and quite fond of knocking his opponents down and eating their entrails. Dogmeat will eviscerate all but the most heavily armored opponents.
But alas, Dogmeat is mortal and cannot wear armor. When the big guns come out towards the end of the game, Dogmeat is easily shredded. Among the greatest challenges in Fallout is getting past the many forcefields of the FEV installation with Dogmeat intact.
Dogmeat reprises his role in Fallout 2, but can only be found in the secret area the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Alternatively, you can pick up the robotic K-9 or CyberDog, but they pale in comparison to the real thing.
Finally, Dogmeat is likely the inspiration for Dog, a canine henchmen available in Troika Games' Arcanum (distributed by Sierra) as the Troika team included a handful of the developers responsible for the Fallout titles.