Take a look at the dog that made Dogmeat possible in Fallout 4

Dog fans can rest assured in the fact that your Fallout 4 companion, Dogmeat, will not be dying. In fact, none of your companions will be kicking the bucket. No matter who you bring along, your companion will not die – they will simply become incapacitated until you help them out.

That is all besides the point though, what matters here is that Dogmeat isn't just some programmed dog. Bethesda wanted Dogmeat to feel real,  “If we’re going to do the dog, we need to do this right,” said game director Todd Howard.

So, to make Dogmeat 'right' they used River.

River is the pet of lead level designer Joel Burgess, as well as the voice and actress behind Dogmeat. The Bethesda team followed river around with audio and video equipment looking to capture every sound, in order for the most life-like dog to be created in-game. The thing I wonder is, how did they get River to legally maul people for footage?

The video above gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the the dog that made Fallout 4's Dogmeat possible.