OK, here's how this breaks down...

I'm now on my second playthrough (as a VERY new player to the Fallout games) because I couldn't complete a certain quest for which I needed my dog as a companion. Why, you ask? Because I think I actually deleted him somehow.

I was using the Workshop function to scrap all the unsightly junk in Sanctuary one day, and getting carried away. I came upon several doghouses during this time, and scrapped all but one. I haven't seen Dogmeat since.

He was not my companion at the time. When I started looking for him, I couldn't find him. Went to Red Rocket; no sign of him. Started visiting all the settlements I'd been to. No trace of the mutt ANYWHERE.

Then I read online that he will usually be found in a doghouse, waiting for you. And that it could be any one of the 5 that are found in Sanctuary.

Uh-oh. IN a doghouse.

As I reconstruct events, I think I came up to a doghouse from behind, and scrapped it- not realizing that my dog was actually lying down INSIDE IT at the time. I know for a fact that when you scrap a container (suitcase, shelf, even a safe) it deletes whatever is inside; so scrapping the doghouse.... deleted Dogmeat. Poor little fella.

I've been told this is impossible, but I can't think of any other answer. I'm already deep into a second (and better, now that I know what I'm doing) game, so it's really academic in any case. But I can't help wondering... has anyone else heard of (or actually done) this?

When you scrap containers, all stuff that is inside them usually moves to your workshop( with some exeptions) . But doghouse is not a container and Dogmeat is not an item. I don`t think it`s possible to scrap him . Did you try to follow quest markers? I believe in that quest Dogmeat should wait for you there, in Diamond city ( not sure, but that is how I remember it). And it can take some time for him to arrive there.

If you play on PC, you can use console commands to find him.

Press TILDE (~) to open console

Type:

prid 0001d162

moveto player

Press TILDE to close console.

Hmm. I had never considered the possibility that the game took him to the quest for me. No, I never went there to check... because the directions say (IIRC) "BRING Dogmeat to" this location, which may be a spoiler and which I won't discuss further.

I never once thought that it would teleport the dog to the location for me. If it did, that would be one more tiny tiny thing that frustrates the crap out of me, in an otherwise so-far very decent game.

I'll have to see if I can dig far enough back in my saved games to get to that first character. Thanks, kitcat. (That's another thing- on PS4 it may be that you only have a limited number of save slots, so you can only run one character at a time. I do know I once wanted to go back to an earlier point and try something different, only to discover that the save no longer existed... it may be that I'll never know the answer.)

ROFL, i don't think he got deleted but thats funny, build a new doghouse and stick it right next to the workshop in sanctuary, he'll pop up, check red rocket, but if he was in sanctuary last time you saw him he'll be there, i've lost track of him before but he shows up, i usually delete the doghouses behind the house and i make on next to the workshop and put one in the house that some of the settlers and my office is at across the street from the workshop house.

And if you do the quest where he 'turns up', he should turn up...

Usually npc do not teleport, they walk and it can take 1-2 days for them to walk from one side of the map to another. You can use chairs or beds for waiting.

I just made a save and tried to scrap a doghouse with a junkyard dog inside . Impossible to do, I can`t even highlight it when the dog is inside.

Hey Darth Paul, did you name your new character the same as your old character? I currently have 2 different characters I'm playing, on the PS4, and the system is actually kinda cool how it separates them, but easily missed. When you are at the title screen, if you click on load (instead of continue) you should have the choice of "all saves", "character name 1" and "character name 2". You should be able to go to your old character that way. I do believe it is possible to overwrite "character name 2" saves with "character name 1" when you are playing if you are not careful and, after hitting save, click "all saves" and don't pay attention to which save you are overwriting. Hopefully you didn't do that, but it sounds like your new character is going better any way, so at the worst, you now know how this works.

If you are referring to the mission that I think you are, here is what I think happened:

When you reached the mission that requires Dogmeat, the game teleported him to the mission in order for you to progress. Like PIper and Nick, the game is extremely buggy at this phase, and characters are teleported into and out of a form of "limbo." They are delicate, and the bugs can permanently delete them under some circumstances, but Dogmeat is generally the exception. I haven't heard of anyone losing Dogmeat. So, most likely, he is at the mission stage where you are supposed to progress, having been teleported there. You can't find him at Red Rocket or Sanctuary because he is currently scripted to be somewhere else.

Hopefully, returning to Nick Valentine at Kellog's house should progress the mission for you.

You're 100% right. I went into my previous character's save game, went to the quest location, and there he sat, wagging his furry little butt at me. Dammit.

But since I'm almost level 20 in the new character (26 with the old), and more importantly, know what I'm doing this time around, I'm just going to keep on keepin' on. I've done twice as much in half the time, visited twice the number of areas, done some brand new missions, and accumulated every weapon I had before, plus 2 power armor variants and a Fat Man. All before even reaching Diamond City. (Yes, my combat is set on "easy". I'm just here to take the tour.)

Thanks, all, for your help. Mods, we can close this one down.