Attack dog (Red Alert 2)

Attack dogs are Allied and Soviet anti-infantry scout units in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge. The Allied version is a German Shepherd, while the Soviet version is a Siberian Husky.
== Official description ==
==Game unit==
These trained canines were raised from when they were pups to be killing machines, and performed extremely well against enemy troops, despite often taking heavy casualties under fire. They were very useful for reconnaissance purposes due to their speed, vision, and expendable status. They could also sniff out enemy spies no matter what disguise they had taken on. They were of particular use during the Psychic Dominator Disaster, as Yuri's psychics were only trained in controlling human minds, and were vulnerable to dogs.
==Counters==
Being dogs armed with only their own teeth, they were unable to attack anything other than infantry. Groups of enemy troops were able to kill dogs before they got near, and Tanya, Navy SEALs and Boris could kill dogs instantly. Yuri Prime and Mummy are immune to dog attacks. Furthermore, the brute's skin was too thick for a dog's teeth to pierce. Tesla troopers, however, had weak points in their armour which dogs exploited to lethal effect.
==AI behavior==
Attack Dogs controlled by the AI have the following attack patterns:
Medium/Hard:
* 2x guarding Battle Lab
* 2x guarding single Ore Refinery or multiple Ore Refineries
** This strike force will only be built if the enemy owns a Spy
==Aftermath==
The Allies still used them in the Post-war Crisis, while the Soviets replaced them with the war bear. After Anatoly Cherdenko changed the timeline, Allied attack dogs were observed to be capable of swimming and were equipped with the ability to stun enemy infantry.
==Trivia==
* When attacking, the dog essentially "becomes the bullet" until it reaches and kills the target. During this phase, the dog is immune to even a Nuke blast and its radiation.
**In the rare event a Terrorist is killed before the dog gets to him, even by a single frame, it lands unharmed from that Terrorist's explosion; otherwise the dog dies with the Terrorist.
**This mechanic, called LimboLaunch, is shared with both Squid and Terror Drone.
**The reason the "dog-turned-bullet" turns immune is because the Westwood C&C engine has no mechanics in place to attack, harm and destroy bullets. That logic is added in the fan-made engine extension Phobos DLL.
* The manual for The First Decade states that Yuri's Army has access to attack dogs. This is not quite true, as the Prerequisite lists for the Yuri dogs have the Allied/Soviet Barracks in them, so Yuri players have to rely on brutes instead unless they can find and capture an Allied or Soviet Barracks.
** Because of how Westwood made faction-exclusive dogs (RequiredHouses logic), Yuri is the only faction that can train clones or copies of both Allied and Soviet attack dogs if an Allied or Soviet barracks are captured, respectively. Allies and Soviets can only train their corresponding type of attack dog, even if the opposite barracks is captured.
** Again, Yuri can only train the clones/copies YADOG and YDOG, not the original Allied dog with ID ADOG nor the Soviet dog with ID DOG.
** The result of this is dogs not always being selected properly when using 'T' if there are different Types (which shouldn't happen in regular gameplay). This not something modders can fix without using Ares DLL for the new GroupAs= flag.
***A technique to fix it for the base game without engine extensions is called "Infantry Linking". It is recommended no modder does this. Ever.
* In real life, the Siberian Husky is a poor breed choice for attack or guard dog: these dogs lack the territorial protection instinct, and are unaggressive towards humans, therefore they cannot be trained to perform direct combat duties.
==Gallery==
File:RA2 Trained Tank Hunting Dogs Concept.jpg|An early concept included an soviet tank hunting dog which was cut from the game.
File:RA2 Allied Attack Dog Manual Render.gif|Manual/website render of the Allied attack dog
File:RA2 Soviet Attack Dog Manual Render.gif|Manual/website render of the Soviet attack dog
File:Allied Attack Dog animation.gif|Allied dog's SHP sprite
File:Soviet Attack Dog animation.gif|Soviet dog's SHP sprite
===Cameos===
Pre-release cameos, in order: Soviet alpha, Allied beta veteran, Soviet beta veteran.
==See also==
* Attack dog (Red Alert 1)
* Attack dog (Red Alert 3)
Category:Animals
Category:Red Alert 2 infantry