Players can interact with stray dogs in the following ways:
Shoo - It can be shooed away by the player (Thbbbbt!), causing the dog to whine (Whine!) and run away. If ignored, it will follow for a certain amount of time, and then it will leave to find a different player to follow. Players can shoo away a dog even if it is following someone else.
Feed - It can be fed bones, raw meat, or cooked meat. When players feed it, it happily barks, and will follow for a certain amount of time. If fed with more food, it will continue following, but will not enter any buildings. If the offering is inedible, the dog will growl and not eat it. If the stray dog is offered Shaikahan bones or marinated j' bones, it will refuse to eat them, prompting the following game message: That's disgusting - you can't give it to the poor dog!
Pet - It can be pet by the player, Who's a good doggie?. The dog will respond with a Woof! and will proceed to follow the player as if the player has fed it. This feature was introduced in the 2019 Christmas event.
With cats - If a stray dog walks past a cat of any size, then it will bark at the cat. When a stray dog barks at a hellcat however, the hellcat will fight back. Promptly, the stray dog will get scared of the hellcat, and cower away.
In Varrock, there are five stray dogs wandering around. Three are grey and two are brown. Giving a dog a bone is one of the easy tasks in the Varrock Achievement Diary.
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Upon loading into a Clan Hall, a stray dog will occasionally spawn outside the gates, beyond the player's reach.
When a player interacts with the stray dog while wearing cat ears, they will get the following game message: "He doesn't approve of your ears.", while the dog will bark ("Bark!") and back away from the player. This happens even if the player tries to pet the dog.
Varrock's stray dogs have had a festive override wearing a Santa hat during the 2023, 2024, and 2025 Christmas events, and a bat costume during the 2025 Halloween event. This costume was applied to all stray dogs, making brown ones grey.
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