Shack Chat: What's your favorite video game dog?

We love dogs here at Shacknews. We previously had a dog serve as our CEO, and we created an app where users can vote on which pets are the cutest. With that in mind, we'd like to turn our attention to some of our favorite video game dogs. There are plenty to choose from, but here are the pups that hold a special place in our hearts.

Quesiton: What’s your favorite video game dog?

Rush - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Dog Lover

Just because Rush isn't technically an organic dog doesn't make him any less lovable. Rush has been best boy for over 35 years, stretching the limits of what's possible for a video game doggo to accomplish. Whether he's a jet, a sub, or whatever else Mega Man needs him to be, Rush is always there helping avoid some of Dr. Wily's most nefarious traps. He's as loyal as a gaming dog gets.

Cerberus - TJ Denzer, Senior fan of three-headed dogs that love good scatches

Hades is a tough game to beat. You have a long road through the underworld in which Hades himself awaits at the end as a terrifying final trial. However, win or lose, there’s something good waiting for you back at home every time you prepare to try again. It’s Cerberus, the beloved gatekeeper of Hades and three-headed canine goober.

Cerberus will let you pet him every time Zagreus comes home to get some emotional support (at least the way I played) and much needed comfort. He knows Zagreus is on a tough road and he can’t do much, but he also supports our hero every way he can. Even when he’s supposed to be an obstacle in our way, Cerberus will happily step aside if we give him a treat. That’s pretty fair for letting us pass out of the gates of Hell if you ask me. Cerberus doesn’t play a huge role in Hades, but he does play quite the supportive one in a tough-as-nails game, and for that, he’s my bestie.

Lola in Bubbletron - Asif Khan, CEO/EIC/EIEIO

For years, I asked game developers to put my dog Lola in their video games. No one did, so I did it my own damn self. Lola is immortalized in our first Shacknews game Bubbletron, with several of her barks appearing as sound samples. Each day, Lola and I are standing by to provide some historical context for things that happened.

Arcanine - Donovan Erskine, Pokemon Master

Growing up, Arcanine was my favorite Pokemon. The title of “favorite Pokemon” has changed many times for me over the years, but one thing remains true: If I could have one Pokemon in real life, it would be Arcanine. This massive fire dog is incredibly powerful and equally loyal. Arcanine is big enough that I could ride one like a horse. There is no better video game dog, as far as I’m concerned.

K.K. Slider - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo Show host, Bark is worse than the bite!

What is my favorite video game dog? I consider myself a dog person so I think I can come up with something for this question. I’ll start by saying that I really enjoyed playing as Lupus the dog in Jet Force Gemini. I said countless times during the Jet Force Gemini playthrough on the Stevetendo Show that if Rare allowed you to play as Lupus from the start, that the game would have been so much better. That playthrough almost killed me so I’m glad that I can take something from it. Another canine that I have to give a shout to is Poochy from Yoshi’s Island. Poochy is a cute puppy with a goofy face that just wants to please the player. He helps Baby Mario and Yoshi make their way through lava paths as well as helps uncover secrets. But my answer for this question is an easy one, K.K. Slider. How can you not like a dog that can play the guitar and belt out some kick ass songs? It doesn’t matter that the songs are in the Animal Crossing language, the songs are pretty cool and K.K. Slider is a good singer. My favorite video game dog Is K.K. Slider with Lupus and Poochy rounding out the top three.

Those are the video game doggos we love the most, but we surely left out some awesome ones. Let us know your favorites in the Chatty!

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.