Traveling through the wild west of Red Dead Redemption 2 can be lonely, as Arthur Morgan spends most of the adventure breaking off from the rest of the Van Der Linde gang to explore on his own. However, a new mod can offer exactly the type of companionship that many players have asked for since the game released, a little dog friend.

This most recent Red Dead Redemption 2 mod comes courtesy of modder Shtivi and was initially discovered by PCGamesN. As the Dog Companion mod's name suggests, it gives players the chance to explore the game's many regions with a dog following along and even helping to engage with the world.

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The mod itself gives players the option to "bond" with a dog while petting it, which will then cause the dog to follow along as a companion and answer to whistles like a horse. However, the mechanics of the dog goes a little further than just having it follow the player around, as the new companion can now help during melee combat and play an active role in Red Dead Redemption 2's hunting activities. These dogs will even go so far as to react to when the player gets attacked by aggressive animals in the wild, attacking the animal before they can get the drop on Arthur, a common risk of hunting in jaguar territory.

Once a player picks up a dog companion, the animal also gets its own health core, which is increased by feeding it meat caught from the wild game that it helps to catch. Additionally, while the dog will come when whistled for, there is a range where it won't respond, but can still be respawned when lost through a new prompt in the main horse menu. So, players can rest assured that their new favorite hunting partner in Red Dead Redemption 2 isn't going to abandon them if they stray too far away for whatever reason.

As far as a mod addressing a fan request goes, modder Shtivi really went above and beyond to make sure that the dog is more than just a small addition that hangs around in the background. The added hunting and melee fighting mechanics works to make this a substantial addition to these aspects of the game, and the other additions help to make it blend with all of the other systems. So, for dog lovers especially, but also anyone who just wants a hunting companion as they explore the wild west, this could be one of Red Dead Redemption 2's best mods as long as Shtivi keeps up support for it.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.

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Source: Nexus Mods (via PCGamesN)