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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.

  1. 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]
  2. 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. 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]
    • 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.
  4. You need two for breeding. Use bones to tame a second wolf.[4]
    • In Minecraft, animals, villagers and mobs don't have a gender. Don't worry about whether or not the wolves are male or female.
  5. 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]
    • 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.
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  • Question
    How do you know the dog's health?
    Community Answer
    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.
  • Question
    How do I give a dog a name?
    Community Answer
    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.
  • Question
    What if the 2 dogs belong to different people? How do I make the dog mine?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    You can't. You can feed and care for them, but the other person will remain owner.
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  • 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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About This Article

Travis Boylls
Written by:
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Travis Boylls. Travis Boylls is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Travis has experience writing technology-related articles, providing software customer service, and in graphic design. He specializes in Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux platforms. He studied graphic design at Pikes Peak Community College. This article has been viewed 429,195 times.
92 votes - 74%
Co-authors: 26
Updated: September 7, 2024
Views: 429,195
Categories: Minecraft Animals
Article SummaryX

1. Collect bones from skeletons.
2. Locate a wolf.
3. Equip the bones and give them to the wolf until hearts appear over the wolf.
4. Repeat to tame a second wolf.
5. Feed the tamed wolves until hearts appear over them to put them in love mode.
6 Repeat with a second tamed wolf in close proximity to make them breed.

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Reader Success Stories

  • Hailey Kee

    Hailey Kee

    Apr 27, 2021

    "I absolutely loved the warning it helps me at the Enderman part. My dog can have really died cuz I saw an Enderman..." more
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