Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 16: Dogs!

[Wassa]

Former threads:
Moths - Warp Stalkers - Crocolisks - Monkeys - Wolves - Core Hounds - Wasps - Dragonhawks - Turtles - Boars - Carrion Birds - Bears - Serpents - Tallstriders - Worms

Random pet family appreciation thread is where I roll a random pet family every week for everyone to share their pictures, their stories, their love for that pet family. Please no hate or rants. This is an appreciation thread. If you dislike the family, don't post! Hopefully with some love we can get some hunters to try out new pets they never would have thought to tame before.

Our 16th family is the loyal dog family!

I couldn't decide on one picture for the family, so have both.

Dog facts

~Dogs are one of the newest tameable families, introduced in Cataclysm. Mastiffs were also released during Cataclysm, while the demon dogs have been in game since Vanilla.

~Dogs come in three tameable models and 13 different tameable skins.

~Dogs have two rare members: Bayne and Rokad the Ravager.

~Dogs have no unique skinned named members.

~Billie is the only solid white demon dog. He cannot be tamed. Only ghostly white demon dogs are tameable at this time.

~An older demon dog skin can be found in the MPQ files as darkhoundskin. This older demon dog lacks the furry feet, has a more muscular definition, and has an incomplete mane. A fix for the mane can be seen by clicking here.

~All demon dogs where labeled as demons until Cataclysm, except the Vargul Blighthounds which where beasts and tameable as wolves in Wrath. They are now in the dog family.

~Besides the Vargul Blighthound, three other beasts where moved to the dog family. Dragonflayer Hunting Hound and Onslaught Bloodhound were formerly black hyenas and Scarlet Tracking Hound used to be a red hyena.

~A few mastiffs are color changers.

~The trinket Dog Whistle will summon a mastiff by your side.

~Karazhan is home to two ghostly demon dogs can be tamed. These are the Phase Hound and Shadowbeast.

~Bullmastiffs are tameable only by horde. Fiend and Trained Plaguehounds are tameable only by alliance.

[Vephriel]

Ooh, I just adore the demon dogs! I like the mastiffs as well, but I haven't found a character that's immediately bonded with one. I think one of my misgivings about their model is the use of the gimpy leg worg skeleton, but I love their floppy jowls. ^^

Anyways, I have always admired the animations of the demon hounds and their impressive musculature. Before the skeletal fire hounds were introduced they had a completely unique skeleton and animations, and I frequently wished that they were tameable. I wasn't truly expecting them to become so due to them being demons, but I'm so glad they changed them to beasts. (I'm still kind of hoping for the fire hounds to be tameable one day. ) I also wish that unreleased darkhound skin would make an appearance in game, I love the grey colour and red eyes, very gargoyle-esque.

For an older model I think the originals have a lot of detail, and the WotLK skins are particularly handsome. I love the scaled hide on those, they almost seem half reptilian. I'm also quite pleased by their size overall. I know some people feel they're too small, but to me their stature is perfect. They have that compact, fierce build like a bull terrier.

My current favourite is a green runed hound named Mortifer (stemming from the word mortiferous - Bringing or producing death; deadly; destructive; as, a mortiferous herb). I call him Morty for short.

I actually tried a few demon dogs before I finally bonded with him. Mortifer caught my eye when I was on a spree of running Stratholme every day in hopes for the Baron's Mount (I still have never seen it drop in all my play time). Every time I would go to the back entrance, there was a Frenzied Plaguehound sitting there, right near the gate. I think at the time I had one of the blue runed hounds, but I was changing my mind on which colour to settle on.

As I visited the back gate over and over, this little plaguehound became somewhat of an acquaintance, and one day I caved and realized how attached I was to him, so I tamed him.



At some point he was released when I tried out another pet, but I sorely missed him (those situations are usually when I discover how much I really fall for a pet). I went back to the Stratholme gate only to find that the specific hound wasn't there. I was worried he was angry with me for releasing him, so I walked around for a while, eventually came back, and there was his spawn. <3 After that retame I haven't let him go, and I don't plan on it, he's a very special puppy now.





I'll admit on the MoP beta when pets were glitching to their pre-tame size, Mortifer was pretty awesome as a 'large' dog. Not as large as most pets were, but in comparison to what his tamed size is, it was very cool.

[Lisaara]

Didnt bond with the mastiffs, however the demon dogs, I love them to death! <3

[starkittens]

I love the blue runed demon dog! I had one, it's name was gimpers.

I should go get one again, but what color? I want one for both my hunters, my troll and Tauren:


http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/r ... ens/simple <- Tauren
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/m ... zts/simple <- troll

[GormanGhaste]

The trinket Dog Whistle will summon a mastiff by your side.

Oh, I didn't realize they changed the whistle to be a permanent item with a CD. I remember back when it was an item with charges.

[Rhyela]

Oh yeah! I didn't know they changed it, either! It used to have three charges, if I remember right?

[Twitchapher]

Back in Wrath when I first saw the blue demon dogs I was in love with them...Even though they weren't tameable. I started raiding in late Wrath I had all four spirit beasts and only one slot left. I did some looking since I was going to raid in Survival and everyone had a wolf so letting go of my beloved Faze(sorry baby! </3) I looked at the wolf models and decided on the Vargul Blighthound. I tamed one with ease and looked up a name for him. I settled on the name Gytrash and we raided through ICC together. I loved him so much.

Come Cata my beloved became a dog and got a pvp ability which saddened me. I tamed my beloved blue rune demon dog(named Fenrir) but...I've sadly lost the bond with them. I really wish they were still in the wolf group, I'm sure I'd still have that bond with him...I really do miss him and wish I had that bond. Maybe if I turned off pet emote(which the current dog emotes don't suit my personally for him) while I archeology I could get that bond back. We'll have to see. >=

[Ana]

I have a weekness for mastifs but never been able to bond to one on Tårnfalk but with my premade stables on Norrathia i found room for a lovely girl



ohh wait thats not the wow dog (though in my head she looks like that)


Though with a little imagination and the rigth will this is pretty close.. Meet AkAnon (see describtion of name in my taming post)

[Miacoda]

Oh yay! I was really hoping dogs would come up soon!

My Worgen hunter, Espen, has four dogs.

The first dog, who is also his first pet, is Astrid. I actually didn't think I would bond with Astrid. At the time, the only mastiff color I liked was red. But despite not expecting a bond, I named her Astrid. I liked the name, and it really seemed fitting for her. I'm not sure why I never learn that if I find a good name for a pet, they almost always stick around. As I continued with the Worgen starting zone, the bond formed. She was an excellent dog. She's loyal, loving, and protective of her master. Astrid would risk life and limb for Espen, and Espen would do the same for her. The two have a very strong bond, one that will never break. ^^







Recently I had been wanting more dogs, and I had never bonded with any demon dogs before, so I figured that I'd give it another try. Well, a week or so ago, I tamed a little ghostly demon dog named Hel. I absolutely love her. She may not look it, but she's absolutely adorable. Hel is just full of life (despite being a ghost) and spunk. She is very playful, and very bitey to enemies. Watch out for those big teeth of hers! Hehe.







After taming Hel, I felt like I could probably try a second demon dog, but htis one had to be runed. While I was leveling Espen I tried a green one, but it didn't work out. This time I figured a blue one would work. I love the blue and Espen's transmog is blue.. so why not? Well, it didn't turn out as I hoped. So, I tried the red one. For some reason red is the only one I have even the slightest luck with in bonding. So after giving him a name, I called him Helgrind! He and Hel have a very strong relationship, but I'm not sure if it's a sibling thing or a crush thing. Helgrind's personality isn't figured out as much. I need to keep him out a bit more (it would be so much easier to find personalities for beasts if they had PetEmote emotes ) and spend more time with him. Right now I'd say he's not as hyper and spunky as Hel, but he is playful bitey. XD






After the two demon dogs, I figured "Oh, why not another mastiff?" So, I went out and tamed a mastiff that I used to have on Mia. His name is Vermundr, and he's protective, like Astrid, but I see him being protective for everyone, not just Espen alone. His name means "Protector of man" so I just see him being very kind to those who deserve his kindness. His personality isn't completely discovered.

[GormanGhaste]

My human hunter plans on getting a ghostly white demon dog when she's high enough level.

[TygerDarkstorm]

The dog family is one of those families that I thought I was going to want to love, but could never find a model/skin to bond with. I've done numerous Pet Challenges for the old world style demon dogs, each one leaving one of my hunter's sides because of their wacky model flaws (that mouth!). I did briefly have a human hunter who spent some time with a mastiff that I really enjoyed.

But, the dog that changed it all for me was one little lone guy I met while questing out in Zul'Drak. I had been kind of debating off and on whether or not to try out a red runed dog model on Rose. Sadly I don't even hardly remember the tame, just how instantaneous the bond was once he was by my side. I knew demon dogs were small when tamed, but Rose has a stable full of very large pets and this little guy just looked so out of place. And so he was dubbed Runt.


Runt had instant personality right from the get go. He had been the runt of the litter, and sometimes runts are left a little... special. Runt was no exception. He's not the smartest dog ever, but damn does he have heart and soul. And loyalty out the wazoo. He's always keeping Rose on her toes with his puppy antics and he's really just a giant, loving goofball. And when it comes to a fight, no matter the size of the opponent, Runt is right there nipping at their toes until they fall. Sometimes the enemy doesn't even know what's hit them.










Rarely do I get a bond so strong with a pet that just solidifies themself so suddenly in my heart. And from one of the pet families that I least expected. Next to Azunara (Rose's OOC Gondria), Runt has replaced Tyrant (her black devilsaur) as Rose's most iconic pet. <3 I think I spent most of Northrend leveling with him at my side. He even helped me re-await Gondria's return so that I might tame her (I saw her when I was level 74, spurring me to grind out the 3 levels to bring her home).

[Ana]

Ohh i completly forgot that i have a dog on Kahlua too.. so sorry about double posting but i havent used my Bloodelf for much other then AH Grind lately.

JackDaniels was tamed when i found out Kahluas transmorg. To me he fits perfectlly.

Since its a double post (again real sorry about that) only one picture

[Holgarr]

Winston. Named after Churchill (he just looked like it was a fitting name), he's a red mastiff rescued from Scarlet Monastery. Bit of a grumbler, he's the "grumpy old man" of Wykea's clan. Thanks to a rather amusing visual tic (he would always seem to do the "jowl shaking" idle anim more than usual when around Forsaken NPCs/players) I've pictured him as somehow being allergic to the undead, having sneezing fits when they get close. Hmm, maybe that's why the Scarlets didn't put up too much of a fight when I first got him...

[Mozag]

The dog family. Hmh, it's been a difficult one for me. I loved the idea of mastiffs (one of my favourite breeds in real life), but am not terribly fond of the model and as for the demon dogs...originally I hated them. As in really hated their ugly faces and strange teeth. I had long been ogling the beautiful blue demon hound skins in Coldarra though, and was always sad that I couldn't nab one to see whether my opinion would change.

However, in came Cataclysm and tameable demon hounds. I was planning on getting myself one of the blue skins that I had been drooling over for so long, but during a round trip of the new Azeroth I happened to come across the green demon dog skin in Eastern Plaguelands and found myself mindlessly taming one. Really, I don't know what came over me. But as soon as I saw that cheerful, tiny little creature running circles around the hooves of my huge, steady Tauren, I was in love.

Not long after, I race-changed the Tauren to a female Troll, and the demon dog no longer suited. However, my dearest, most beloved dog has found a home with my Goblin.



Goldie remains as energetic and crazy as she did the first day I saw her gambolling around leaving a trail of yellowy plague fumes. She loves chasing butterflies and playing, and while she can be a bit of a scrapper when needed, she's still generally just a little puppy in a plagued skin. I absolutely adore her, and am even happier that she opened up the world of dogs for me.

[Miacoda]

Ignore this: Photobucket is dumb so I'm posting the remainder of the screenshots I posted here... here. XD

[Boven]

I've never really been able to bond with dogs since they became tameable. Back in Wrath, I tamed one of the demon dogs from Zul'Drak, but of course that was pre-dog family so they were wolves. He was my raiding pet and was named Cat (there's a story behind that). Sadly, when Cata came out, Cat became a dog and I eventually went and let him go back up in ZD. I kinda miss the old fella, but the dog family just doesn't do anything for me.

[Kalliope]

I have to post because I never ever expected this little guy to win me over so completely, not once, but twice.



Tantalus somehow managed to wriggle his happy little way into my stable, despite my already having a number of dog-like pets and pets who act like puppies. The original tale is here and his return is briefly covered here.

It figures; this was the one color of hellhound I wasn't a fan of and the one I've grown the closest to.

[Wassa]

I had the red mage hunter on Wassa for a short while in Wrath. I named him Houndour because I think they look exactly like one. I didn't keep him long through, as I already had a wolf for raiding, but I love how demon dogs look.

Since they added the dog family, however, I've been having a hard time bonding with one. I love how demon dogs look, but their small size once tamed turned me off once I got high enough level to tame the blue mage hunter on Ptaysanwee. I wanted to love him, but next to a Tauren he was so small. I tried mastiffs too and while they look great next to a Tauren, none of the skin colors worked with Ptaysanwee either.

On MoP beta I have a premade hunter (named Chrysallis) just to try out pets that I haven't been able to bond with before. While most of my attempts of keeping beasts that I never really had before is mostly failing, I have recently found a bond with one pet I could not bond with before.



This is Minion. I tried a bunch of different demon dog colors, but this plain grey skin stuck with her.

Chrysallis isn't the nicest hunter, hence why he is named Minion. Minion doesn't seem to mind. He'll bounce around his master in complete bliss. When given commands he can snap in an instant to become a ferocious beast to protect her. Without a doubt a loyal companion for Chrysallis until the end of beta.

[Miacoda]

I got a new dog! His name is Flapjack, and he's with my Blood Elf hunter. No real reason for naming him Flapjack. XD He's very bouncy and playful puppy fwuffles. <3

But yeah, he's adorable and I love him. xD

[Kalliope]

Relevant link: http://youtu.be/7a3SOt8gv6U

This is why I had a nether ray named Flapjack at one point. Didn't work out for me, though.

Enjoy!