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So, in all the lore and 40K books I've read, I've not read about dogs. There's constant references, such as Cyber-Mastiffs' general shape, the names of the Chem-Dogs and Devil Dogs, all of which refer to dogs, but there's no actual dogs anywhere to my knowledge. There's still wolves and that, ALA the Fenrisian Wolves, but no dogs. So, what's happened them? Surely a species so beloved by man would've survived? Seeing as they're from Terra, they're not a Xenos so surely man would be all the happy to spread them. With their insanely high birth rate, one would think they'd be used as expendable troops alongside the Guard. Dogs in World War I and II were common, and seeing as the Imperial Guard have that theme, you'd think they'd have them. So, what happened to Man's Best Friend, or what am I missing?

Big E was a cat person maybe?

Or it's just not efficient (according to the Munitorium) to ship out dogs with the IG tithe?

I'm sure many worlds in the IoM have canines and even use them for something besides cuddly pets. A dog has incredible sense of smell so it could be trained to sniff out alien infiltrators, mutants and all kinds of funky items people like trying to bring through customs.

The main reason we don't get dogs in a Codex or fluff is probably bolter porn. Why write about the heroic Sniffy III who foils a genestealer uprising when you can instead write about the heroic Manly Marines who turn up and stop the vile xenos with their bolters, flamers and general manliness?

Spetulhu wrote:
Or it's just not efficient (according to the Munitorium) to ship out dogs with the IG tithe?

I'm sure many worlds in the IoM have canines and even use them for something besides cuddly pets. A dog has incredible sense of smell so it could be trained to sniff out alien infiltrators, mutants and all kinds of funky items people like trying to bring through customs.

The main reason we don't get dogs in a Codex or fluff is probably bolter porn. Why write about the heroic Sniffy III who foils a genestealer uprising when you can instead write about the heroic Manly Marines who turn up and stop the vile xenos with their bolters, flamers and general manliness?

I don't know, it seems that if they're going to a world to take up massive amounts of guardsmen, taking dogs to flood with chems as attack dogs, or hell just to strap bombs to them to take out tanks, would be effective.

Solar-powered_chainsword wrote:

Spetulhu wrote:
Or it's just not efficient (according to the Munitorium) to ship out dogs with the IG tithe?

I'm sure many worlds in the IoM have canines and even use them for something besides cuddly pets. A dog has incredible sense of smell so it could be trained to sniff out alien infiltrators, mutants and all kinds of funky items people like trying to bring through customs.

The main reason we don't get dogs in a Codex or fluff is probably bolter porn. Why write about the heroic Sniffy III who foils a genestealer uprising when you can instead write about the heroic Manly Marines who turn up and stop the vile xenos with their bolters, flamers and general manliness?

I don't know, it seems that if they're going to a world to take up massive amounts of guardsmen, taking dogs to flood with chems as attack dogs, or hell just to strap bombs to them to take out tanks, would be effective.

The 40k in me applauds your thinking. The dog owner in me weeps.

There is a dog who features in the Dan Abnett "Iron Snakes" novel - A big mastiff dog, who the protagonist uses to help him fight some dark eldar. IIRC, the dog belonged to the planetary governor, on a backwater world with quite limited tech.
So yeah, Dogs do exist, but they're not exactly high-profile, it seems,

Solar-powered_chainsword wrote:
taking dogs to flood with chems as attack dogs, or hell just to strap bombs to them to take out tanks, would be effective.

Ehh... Why use dogs for that when you have plenty of guardsmen?

I never thought about dogs in 40k, this is a good question. Dogs could be used by arbites to detect genestealers in a WWZ like situation. I guess though that most hive worlds don't have dogs, as they get eaten by the homeless, but I don't see why regiments from more 'civilised' worlds could bring dogs along as mascots, hounds (arbites could use these), and general cuteness. After all, there is no treatment for PTSD, so a dog or two could keep suicides down.

I now am going to picture guardsmen with dogs for stress relief, and Arbites with massive hunting hounds and sniffer dogs.

Gun dogs are a thing. Dogs with guns.


The Forgeworld Arbite model has a puppy:
http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Imperial-Enforcer-e1358954959784.jpg

And Sister of Silence had doggies:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/6e/46/07/6e4607984ff963ad124375af626ae2c4.jpg
...and cute little pooches pumped full of combat stimms:
http://orig15.deviantart.net/afcb/f/2011/359/2/0/sisters_of_silence_prosecutor_squad_by_darkcrusader40-d4k8cfu.jpg
Aww.

Cyber-dogs are a thing used by the Arbites. Canids and canines make appearances but, the galaxy being what it is, a mean dog is a really, really pedestrian threat.

There were rules and models for dogs in Necromunda.

There are rules for dogs in Dark Heresy.

Spetulhu wrote:

Solar-powered_chainsword wrote:
taking dogs to flood with chems as attack dogs, or hell just to strap bombs to them to take out tanks, would be effective.

Ehh... Why use dogs for that when you have plenty of guardsmen?

Dogs are stupid and can run fast. On foot, they get the job done quicker.

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:

Spetulhu wrote:

Solar-powered_chainsword wrote:
taking dogs to flood with chems as attack dogs, or hell just to strap bombs to them to take out tanks, would be effective.

Ehh... Why use dogs for that when you have plenty of guardsmen?

Dogs are stupid and can run fast. On foot, they get the job done quicker.

IIRC both the Germans and Russians tried bomb dogs against tanks in WW2. Sadly the dogs were too stupid to differentiate between friendly and enemy tanks.

Some sort of drugged attack dog I could see, sure, but that would be quite specialized use in the IG. More likely PDF stuff.

Honestly, and this is strictly my opinion, I would think that there's no dogs for the same reason that there's typically very little mention of children; The Grim Darkness (TM) of the 41st Millennium is totally ok as long as it happens to the faceless or the interchangeable masses. Even characters of Space Marine, with few exceptions, are basically a meat-based Bolt-Delivery-System.

The second you start bringing in dogs or children, typically viewed as inherently good, inherently innocent things in most Western Culture, you're either trying to drum up the drama for literary purposes, in which case the focus doesn't stay on that for long because you cannot sustain that level of suspense without veering into audacity, or you're going to lose your audience.

I mean let's be honest, most if not all of us wouldn't flinch at most horrible things being done to people in a war setting. Those same people would probably have trouble seeing those same thing inflicted on dogs.

Dogs, Cats, Space Hamsters (I'm dead serious), fish-like creatures, even Big Cats (or things like it) are mentioned in all sorts of places.

Some are used for protection like the Cyber mastiffs of the Arbites (and even in some IG regiments), regular dogs too, Cats are mentioned as pets in a few books, there is even a version that is a psyker familiar or something.

If you want your chapter/regiment/whatever to have pets. Go for it. They exist, just are not mentioned a lot.

Giving the Imperium of Man a best friend doesn't seem very grimdark. Any hint of noblebright and it's just a prop used to accentuate grimdark and is shortly snuffed out by something grimdark. GeeDubs hasn't been in a rush to single out children and puppies for a grimdark experience. In a society offended by booby armour I wouldn't suggest GeeDubs start rushing anytI'm soon.

meh horses are common enough.... why not dogs and cats? Especially on low tech worlds.

You can eat the horse.

Not so much the dog, they're a bit ... ruff

deathmagiks wrote:
Honestly, and this is strictly my opinion, I would think that there's no dogs for the same reason that there's typically very little mention of children; The Grim Darkness (TM) of the 41st Millennium is totally ok as long as it happens to the faceless or the interchangeable masses. Even characters of Space Marine, with few exceptions, are basically a meat-based Bolt-Delivery-System.

The second you start bringing in dogs or children, typically viewed as inherently good, inherently innocent things in most Western Culture, you're either trying to drum up the drama for literary purposes, in which case the focus doesn't stay on that for long because you cannot sustain that level of suspense without veering into audacity, or you're going to lose your audience.

I mean let's be honest, most if not all of us wouldn't flinch at most horrible things being done to people in a war setting. Those same people would probably have trouble seeing those same thing inflicted on dogs.

This. At the end of the day, 40k isn't high sci-fi intended for an adult audience.

It's a game and fluff background that is intended for both adults and young adults, and has to steer a delicate balance between hinting at enough of the darkness to retain an adult audience, but making it vague enough that their younger customers (or rather, their parents) don't balk at it.

Probably the same reason that put paid to the Daemonettes that aren't horrid mutated crabs, and probably why Slaanesh has been cut entirely from AoS (risk and effort not worth the sales it produced).

Also 'meat-based bolt-delivery-system' is probably what Marines are filed under in the Administratum...

Children are mentioned all the time when it comes to the Schola Progenium, or the horrific orphanages that people like Patience Kys came from.

 chromedog wrote:
You can eat the horse.

Not so much the dog, they're a bit ... ruff

cats in all honesty would make quite common sense even on battleships.... vermin control? Hell in the modern world they still use ferrets to help lay cables and telephone wires, not in some downtrodden third world countries either, we still do it right here in the UK!

 Baldeagle91 wrote:

 chromedog wrote:
You can eat the horse.

Not so much the dog, they're a bit ... ruff

cats in all honesty would make quite common sense even on battleships.... vermin control? Hell in the modern world they still use ferrets to help lay cables and telephone wires, not in some downtrodden third world countries either, we still do it right here in the UK!

Yeah, but that's what hullghasts are for Best not to keep the rat population too low...they might get hungry...

Sniffer or attack dogs for the Guard would be a pretty cool unit, actually. I don't think I can remember seeing the good guys use them in the background, but there's two examples I can think of where Chaos troops used them on occupied worlds in Gaunt's Ghosts. Both times, they were used to police enslaved civilian populations and hunt down Guard insurgents. They were not cuddly Man's Best Friends...

 Engine of War wrote:
Dogs, Cats, Space Hamsters (I'm dead serious), fish-like creatures, even Big Cats (or things like it) are mentioned in all sorts of places.

Space Hamsters. Space. Hamsters.

Source? I don't distrust you but that just seems too weird...

 gnome_idea_what wrote:

 Engine of War wrote:
Dogs, Cats, Space Hamsters (I'm dead serious), fish-like creatures, even Big Cats (or things like it) are mentioned in all sorts of places.

Space Hamsters. Space. Hamsters.

Source? I don't distrust you but that just seems too weird...

+1 on this request!

It sounds like an easter egg referring to Baldurs Gate :-D
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Miniature_giant_space_hamster

 Spinner wrote:

 Baldeagle91 wrote:

 chromedog wrote:
You can eat the horse.

Not so much the dog, they're a bit ... ruff

cats in all honesty would make quite common sense even on battleships.... vermin control? Hell in the modern world they still use ferrets to help lay cables and telephone wires, not in some downtrodden third world countries either, we still do it right here in the UK!

Yeah, but that's what hullghasts are for Best not to keep the rat population too low...they might get hungry...

Sniffer or attack dogs for the Guard would be a pretty cool unit, actually. I don't think I can remember seeing the good guys use them in the background, but there's two examples I can think of where Chaos troops used them on occupied worlds in Gaunt's Ghosts. Both times, they were used to police enslaved civilian populations and hunt down Guard insurgents. They were not cuddly Man's Best Friends...

Nah that's Ghiliams.... Hullghasts prefer larger sport

Either way I see Canines, Cats, Horses, Cattle and Mustela lasting into the 40k universe for practical reasons.