The world of Kenshi is a strange and vicious one. If it's not the desert sun and lack of food trying to kill players, it's cannibals, bandits, mercenaries, religious zealots, wild animals, and monsters. Survival is a tough and sometimes lonely affair. Thankfully, there's something to make the open world of the desert a little safer and a lot less lonely.

Bonedogs are somewhat monstrous canines that rove the wilds of Kenshi in packs, preying upon unsuspecting animals (to say nothing of unsuspecting players). Despite their wild and dangerous nature, farmers and bounty hunters often keep bonedogs as pets. Best of all, the player can too. A bonedog at one's side means more than constant companionship; it means a guardian and second set of eyes against the perils of the noon sun. To keep a happy bonedog as a pet, however, the player needs to keep it fed.

Feed From A Backpack

player with a dog in kenshi

Feeding a bonedog is a simple affair, once one knows how, but there are several ways to go about it. And like a number of things in Kenshi, the right path isn't always the most intuitive one. For a party member to eat, food need only be in their pack. There is no "Eat" command to select; the character will automatically eat food in their possession when they become hungry enough.

Similarly, when a bonedog becomes hungry, it will automatically eat qualifying food from the backpack of a nearby party member. If the food is acceptable, but the bonedog won't eat, try moving the bonedog closer to the character. If it still won't eat, the bonedog might not be hungry enough yet (bonedogs have a different hunger threshold than humans).

Feed From The Ground

A Bonedog with two human companions in Kenshi

Another option, ideal for those lacking backpacks to carry around dog food, is to feed the bonedog from the ground. This option is as simple as it sounds. Simply place acceptable food on the ground near the bonedog, and if the bonedog is hungry enough, it will eat.

Though this method is simple and sufficient most of the time, characters who do a lot of traveling instead of remaining at home will need to be able to provide for their pet on the road, which either necessitates carrying food in a backpack (as described above) or feeding from the dead. Alternatively, a bonedog can also eat from an animal feed trough.

Feed From The Dead

bonedog in kenshi

Kenshi is, among other things, a brutal world. While some bonedogs might lead lives of relative luxury, eating tasty morsels from the backpacks of their loving owners, others follow the natural, predatory tendencies of their species. All this is to say that bonedogs can feed from the dead. Gruesome as it may seem, one cheap method to keep a bonedog fed is to let it feast on the severed limbs of slain enemies.

Gross? Yes. But also nutritious, at least for the bonedog. Leading the bonedog to an enemy's corpse will prompt it to eat the dead, if it is hungry enough. In addition to keeping one's pet fed, this is also an easy way to dispose of unwanted mess, if too many carcasses are littering the player's campsite or base.

Feed The Right Food

A bonedog running in Kenshi

Wanting to feed one's bonedog and having food isn't enough: one has to have food the bonedog actually wants. Bonedogs prefer to eat Raw Meat, Foul Raw Meat, and Severed Limbs. Unlike humans, who will be sickened by the consumption of rotten meat, bonedogs can eat spoiled meat without issue.

This small detail can be an important one. If the player has food that was intended for the character's consumption but has gone bad, it can have a second life as food for a bonedog. Resources are precious in Kenshi, so anything that allows the player to reuse and recycle is a valuable tool, letting the player devote resources to more important matters.

Kenshi is available on PC.

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