'The more they bonded with her, the more they saw Dogmeat as a character - a friend.' 'River attended countless meetings but not just to be poked, prodded, recorded and filmed as reference - her biggest job was just to BE with the team,' Burgess said.
After seeing a team member's desk covered in images of German Shepards snarling in attack positions, Burgess began bringing River to the studio. While the developers first considered 'professional' dogs with previous film or police training, they eventually realized River was the perfect subject. What we wanted was a companion first, and a combat ally second.' Burgess went on to explain in a Twitter thread that River was 'the antidote to my biggest fear for the Dogmeat character - a canine weapon, and nothing more.
