How To Pet The Dog In Elden Ring
The last thing most Tarnished are trying to do in the Lands Between is pet the gnarled, Rot-infested monsters wandering around. However, a few gamers might be wondering about an important question: Can I pet the dog in "Elden Ring?" Until now, the answer has been a resounding "NO," but a few savvy gamers figured out that there is indeed one pup you can pet in FromSoftware's latest masterpiece.
While many gamers will never be able to experience the secrets and exploits from the early days of "Elden Ring," that doesn't mean that every hidden detail has been discovered. In a massive title like "Elden Ring," it's likely that gamers will be discovering new things for years. And now, over a year after the game originally released, one player has found a heartwarming friendly pup, just waiting to get a head scritch. No, we're not talking about Miriel the turtle pope – who is also a good boy, in his own right – or the hordes of dog notes players can find left behind by other gamers. In the northeastern tip of Leyndell, near Leonine the Misbegotten, a Rotten Stray is waiting to meet a friendly Tarnished.
Where can players pet the dog? And how?
Redditor dFOXb posted about the mischievous pup, asking the community if anyone had seen or named the creature. Many respondents seemed surprised to hear of a friendly dog in "Elden Ring," but dFOXb's post included a short video of a docile Rotten Stray, happily lying by the player character. The video also included a note left nearby that read, "Ahhh, dog. Therefore offer gesturing." Because "Elden Ring" only offers a limited set of pre-made phrases and words to craft notes, players have almost created their own code to communicate about secrets or upcoming battles. In this case, the note means that the Rotten Stray is friendly, but only if offering the appropriate gestures to calm it. A ghostly image of another player demonstrated the gesture, which appears to be pointing downwards – a move that can easily be mistaken for a pet when near a giant pup.
Some players said that they'd never thought to look for a friendly dog in "Elden Ring," because Rotten Strays are frustrating, but easy to defeat. Other gamers got to work naming the Rotten Stray, trying out all manner of cute names to see which one fit best.
While the Rotten Stray may feel like an anomaly in "Elden Ring," it's actually part of a small tradition in FromSoftware titles. It turns out that "Bloodborne" also has a friendly monster on the prowl.
This isn't the first kind animal in a FromSoftware game
Unlike "Elden Ring," "Bloodborne" goes all in on eldritch horror and madness, throwing players into a dark night of the soul in Yharnam. Some of the most annoying creatures roaming the streets of the city are crows, which awkwardly flap near the ground while making a high pitched screeching sound. Some players found that one of the crows didn't leap out to attack, though. Instead, it sat placidly, looking around with its large, round eyes.
On Reddit, Waylander893 shared a video of the discovery, and showed their player character bending down to gesture at the crow. While the creature didn't respond, other gamers were in awe of the discovery, and pondered what it might mean within the larger context of the game.
There's no real way to interact with the crow aside from gesturing, which doesn't cause a change in behavior, but does make for a sweet picture. Some gamers suggested dropping pebbles or coins for the wayward bird, but without the option to drop items in the game, that looked like a lost cause.
It's unclear if these friendly animals in "Elden Ring" and "Bloodborne" have a larger purpose or are meant to be adorable Easter eggs for avid gamers. Still, stopping to pet the dog (or bird) is a tender way for players to interact with what can otherwise be a very dark world.