Can You Pet the Dog in Tears of the Kingdom?

In the lead-up to the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, there was speculation online on what features, if any, would be changed from the original game. Would weapon degradation still be a thing? How much of Hyrule would still be the same? Would you still have to collect an absurd amount of Korok Seeds to get upgrades? But there was one adjustment that Nintendo needed to make to ensure that Tears of the Kingdom would surpass its predecessor: Can you pet dogs this time in Tears of the Kingdom?

The Answer to If You Can Pet the Dog in Tears of the Kingdom

No, you cannot pet the dog. Believe me, I have tried effortlessly to prove you could, but there’s no prompt that appears when you approach a dog and no way to do it in some roundabout way.

I encountered a dog at the Wetland Stables. He was just wandering around minding his own business. I approached him and tried to interact with him, but no luck. I unequipped the weapon that I was carrying to see if that had any effect, but that did nothing. The dog just sat down next to me and let out a brief little howl. No more, no less.

And it is because of this reason and this reason alone that Tears of the Kingdom is worse than Breath of the Wild and does not deserve a 10/10. If Nintendo can make quality-of-life adjustments to nearly every element for this sequel and not allow people to pet dogs, their priorities are not aligned with what gamers really want. (Please note that this paragraph is a joke before you choose to leave an enraged comment.)

And now you know that you can’t pet the dog in Tears of the Kingdom. For more about Tears of the Kingdom, check out its voice actor cast and accessibility options.