How to Tame and Breed a Dog on Minecraft

Written by Travis Boylls

Last Updated: May 3, 2024 Fact Checked

In Minecraft, wolves are found in the wild. They can be tamed and turned into pet dogs that follow you. Not only do they act as a companion, they also protect you by attacking hostile mobs. You can also breed tamed dogs to produce more dogs that are friendly. This wikiHow teaches you how to tame and breed wolves and dogs.

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Bones are dropped by skeletons and wither skeletons when they are defeated. They can also be obtained from chests in desert and jungle temples or caught while fishing. ^{[1]
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They spawn in the Forest, Taiga, Mega Taiga, Cold Taiga, and Cold Taiga M biomes. If you are in creative mode, you can also spawn one using a wolf spawn egg. ^{[2]
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3
Use the bones to tame the wolf. Open your inventory and drag and drop the bones into your inventory. Select the bones by pressing the corresponding button on the keyboard, or pressing the left and right shoulder buttons on the controller until the toolbar slot with the bones is highlighted. Walk up to the wolf and right-click on it or press the left trigger button on the controller to give it bones. You will know the wolf has been tamed when hearts appear over it and it's collar will turn red. ^{[3]
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- It may take multiple tries and will consume your bone. After you tame it, you can make the dog either sit or follow you by right-clicking on it. When it is tamed, it will be sitting by default. You will have to right-click it to get it to follow you.
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4
Tame a second wolf. You need two for breeding. Use bones to tame a second wolf. ^{[4]
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- In Minecraft, animals, villagers and mobs don't have a gender. Don't worry about whether or not the wolves are male or female.
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5
Feed the dogs to put them in love mode. Make sure both dogs are nearby. Feed them any kind of meat to make them go into love mode. You will see hearts appear above the dog. When two dogs go into love mode in close proximity, they will breed on their own and produce a pup. ^{[5]
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- A new pup bred by tamed dogs will already be tamed and friendly to the player.
- A pup will start small and grow over time. You can make it grow quicker by feeding it meat.

Community Q&A

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Question

How do you know the dog's health?

Community Answer

Check their tail. If it's low to the ground, their health is low. If it's up high, their health is high. To regenerate their health, just feed them meat of any kind.

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Question

How do I give a dog a name?

Community Answer

Get a name tag by trading with white-robed villagers (librarians) or fishing. Then, craft an anvil out of 3 iron blocks and 4 iron ingots (if you don't have one yet). Right click on the anvil and place your name tag. Above the three slots found in the anvil GUI, you'll see a bar that contains the item's name in it. Click on it, and type the name for your dog. Once you have renamed your name tag, take it out of the anvil and right click on your dog to name it.

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Question

What if the 2 dogs belong to different people? How do I make the dog mine?

Community Answer

You can't. You can feed and care for them, but the other person will remain owner.

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Tips

If your dog falls behind, it will teleport to your location.

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If a wolf is sitting down, it will not follow you or teleport to your location.

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You can dye a wolf's collar with dyes. Do this the same way you dye sheep.

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The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

In SMP, if you breed your dog and another person's dog together, the baby will be tamed to the owner of the dog that was fed first.
Minecraft puppies will automatically follow you unless they're sitting down when you walk away.

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Warnings

If your standing wolf looks an enderman in the eye, the enderman will scream and teleport to it to kill it, just like it does for you.

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Helpful 14 Not Helpful 0
Wolves naturally attack skeletons, so be careful that your dog doesn't go running off and get itself killed.

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Helpful 12 Not Helpful 0
Puppies cannot swim and will drown in water if they are not removed.

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Don't hit an untamed wolf. It will try to kill you, and so will the rest of its pack.

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If you spawn baby wolves by using a spawn egg on an adult wolf, it will not be tamed.

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Helpful 11 Not Helpful 1
Don't put dogs in spaces that have monsters!

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Your wolves might occasionally wander off the edge of a cliff or into lava.

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How to Tame and Breed a Dog on Minecraft

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