Nearly a decade after its release, adventurers in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim can finally pet dogs thanks to a new mod. Skyrim's modding community is one of the most active in all of gaming. Modders have created DLC-sized content, fully voiced followers, and even an entire game made with Skyrim's engine and tools. Because of the diverse list of mods to choose from, players can revisit the land of the Nords with a different style of play each time.
While most mods usually add a new weapon, a custom follower, or something to turn the dragons into Thomas the Tank Engine, some can completely change how players experience the game. One example is the multiplayer mod introduced several years ago, which allows players to venture through Skyrim together like in Elder Scrolls Online. Some mods add immersive survival elements, while others overhaul the progression and skill systems of the game. The modding experience became so prevalent that Bethesda made it possible to add mods on consoles as well.
As reported by GamesRadar, modder Jayserpa uploaded a mod called Pet The Dog, which adds petting animations for the player character. Once installed, all a player has to do is walk up to a dog without weapons, magic, or fists out and activate the dog to get the animations to start. There are three animations in total: one each for when the dog is sitting, standing or laying down. The player has to be facing the dog for the animation to look right. Otherwise, the Dragonborn will start petting the air rather than the dog. Jayserpa stated that while the animations in the game already look the part, improvements are possible.
Unfortunately, the animations are only for dogs, but Jayserpa is working on a larger mod that will allow the petting of other animals and NPCs. Additionally, the mod only works in the third-person perspective, but there is a workaround using a first-person mod like Immersive First Person View or similar. Pet the Dog achieves the animations without the use of animation modifier mods like FNIS or Nemesis.
It is important to note that prior to Jayserpa, no other mods on Nexus added the functionality of petting animals to the game. This is quite a surprising fact when one considers that over hundreds of thousands of mods for Skyrim have already been made. Whether or not it took this long because pets in Skyrim don't exist without mods or because dogs are scarce outside of the game's cities is unknown. However, what is known is that Skyrim players will no doubt attempt to pet Barbas in their next playthrough, thanks to this mod.
Source: GamesRadar
Skyrim is available on PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.