The Last of Us Part 2 gained some attention — as if it really needed it — for the decision to allow players to kill dogs. While most people who play games are entirely comfortable mowing down legions of enemies, our cute, cuddly friends are normally spared. No one wants to kill a dog. People have such strong feelings about it that there's a crowdsourced website listing thousands of movies, television shows, and games dedicated to whether or not a dog dies in them.
Thankfully in the case of The Last of Us, you have some control over whether or not man's best friend dies... for the most part. There is one cutscene where you are forced to kill a dog near the middle of the game, but otherwise you don't need to harm a single one.
How not to kill those lovable doggos
Dogs will be out with their handlers from the Washington Liberation Front, but you don't encounter any for a significant portion of the game. When you do finally meet one, you'll notice when it picks up on your scent because the enemies will call out and a scent trail will appear behind Ellie.
Throw a brick to distract it.
If you don't want to be caught, throw an object like a brick or a glass bottle in the opposite direction. This will distract the dog and make it lose your scent. You can then proceed to sneak past the rest of the guards. If the dog happens to pick up on your scent again, just rinse and repeat. It's always good to have a brick or bottle on hand, so don't ignore any on the ground if your inventory isn't full.
When a dog does catch up to you, your best option — if you don't want to kill it — is to run. You'll need to shove it off of you after it gets a hold of your arm, and you'll lose some health in the process, but you don't need to injure it too badly.
If you're interested in what we thought of The Last of Us Part 2, you can read our review where we call it an outstanding achievement in storytelling, but one that's sure to be divisive among fans.
