Stray dog

Release date	29 May 2007 (Update)
Race	Dog
Members NPC?	No
Quest NPC?	No
Location	Varrock
Sells items?	No
Gender	Not mentioned
Examine	"Are those fleas all over it?" or "A mangy mutt."
Notable features	Can be shooed or given bones or raw and cooked meat.

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Stray dogs are dogs that roam around Varrock and Meiyerditch.

Players can interact with stray dogs in the following ways:

• Shoo - It can be shooed away by the player ("Thbbbbt!"), which will appear in the chat box, causing the dog to whine ("Whine!") and run away. If ignored, it will follow for a certain amount of time, and then it will leave to find a different player to follow. Players can shoo away a dog even if it is following someone else.
• Feed - It can be fed bones (which is an easy Varrock Task), raw meat, or cooked meat. When players feed it, it happily barks, and will follow for a certain amount of time. If fed with more food, it will continue following, but will not enter any buildings. If the offering is inedible, the dog will growl and not eat it. A borrowed object cannot be eaten by a stray dog.
• With cats - If there is a cat on the ground while near a stray dog, then it will bark at the cat. Many players object to this harassment of their well loved pet, and in turn use the 'Shoo' function. When a stray dog barks at a wily cat, the wily cat will fight the stray dog. Also, stray dogs are scared of hellcats.

Before summoning was released, players could have cats as pets but not dogs. The only dogs were these stray dogs or attackable NPCs. Many players thought that this was biased and unfair.

In Varrock there are five stray dogs wandering around. Three are grey and two are brown.

After completion of the 2012 Christmas event there will be no more stray dogs running around Varrock. If you are looking to complete the Varrock Easy Task, you can give a bone to the dog that now lives in the doghouse from the Christmas event.