Nothing is spared from the horrors of war - neither people, livestock or pets. All are subject to pillage. Few creatures have it worse than dogs, killed for sport or while defending their owners or left homeless to survive on half-remembered instincts. The outcome of this is plain to see, with packs of starving and increasingly feral dogs roaming the countryside. Some animals, however, show remarkable dedication and loyalty in spite of these hardships, rivaling humans in their desire to seek out justice… and revenge. This page will provide a walkthrough for the secondary quest A Dog’s Life in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Quest Objectives¶
Starting A Dog’s Life¶
To start this quest, head to the abandoned village of Drudge on the southern end of a peninsula southeast of Oreton. Most of the houses are locked and the few that aren’t have little of value in them… almost as if this place had been looted already… but if you enter the house just north of the Drudge signpost and search the floor you should find a hidden chest, which is unfortunately locked. Be sure to investigate this, then head up the road leading northeast out of Drudge.
Discover a hidden chest in Drudge - you can’t do anything about this just yet, but you’ll be back for it shortly.
This road will eventually veer north, then turn west towards Oreton, but well before you reach that meager bastion of civilization you’ll find a pack of Wolves (Lv9) attacking a Friendly Dog, and Geralt will mention helping the hound. Don’t be fooled by this dog’s lack of a health bar - the game is tracking its health and it will gain a health bar shortly, and if the dog takes damage here it’ll have less health when this quest starts. That said, the Wolves aren’t keen to aggro the dog and there’s no friendly fire, so use Igni whenever you can to speed things up and take the Wolves out.
After the fight, Geralt will examine the dog and notice it has a key sewn into its collar. Without fanfare or elaboration, this quest will begin.
(1 of 2) Head up the road and you’ll find a pack of Wolves attacking a Friendly Dog,
Head up the road and you’ll find a pack of Wolves attacking a Friendly Dog, (left), defeat the Wolves and rescue the dog, but note that any damage the dog sustains now will stick when it when this quest starts. (right)
Follow the Dog and Defeat the Bandits¶
Since you already visited Drudge and dug up the hidden chest, you should know exactly what’s coming, and sure enough, the Faithful Hound will lead you back down the road to Drudge, where three Bandits (Lv5) can now be found. If you were hoping for subtlety or diplomacy, you’ll get neither, as the Friendly Dog will attack the Bandits as soon as you catch up to it near the hut the Bandits are searching.
Two of these Bandits are armed with one-handed weapons, while the third bears a shield. It’s the latter who can prove to be an issue, as he’ll easily block all the dog’s attacks, and unlike the Wolves, the Bandits deal significant damage when they attack the dog and aren’t shy about focusing on it. Worse still, some of the tricks for quickly defeating a shield-bearer, like using Axii to debilitate him - will likely just end when the dogs attacks, breaking the effects of the sign. Try to take out the two lesser Bandits first, then focus on the shield-bearer. If he doesn’t focus on you, flank him and score some free hits when he’s not paying attention, and if he does attack you, parry and counter to drop his guard.
(1 of 3) Accompany the Friendly Dog back down to Drudge, where you’ll find some Bandits outside the house you searched earlier.
Kill the Bandits, then enter the hut and loot the chest hidden in the floor, courtesy of the dog’s key. You’ll get some random treasures along with Druzus the Hermit’s Notes, which explains what happened here… and why the dog lured you back to deal with the Bandits. Speaking of which, exit the house and the dog will be gone. Its final, bloody duty to its master discharged and vengeance extracted, the hound apparently has left the world of men behind.
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