Well I'm sure there are many more who like companions and don't play MMOs. I happen to like companions especially when they're mildly entertaining ie Marcurio. I don't like animal companions though.

Many who posted in this thread are right ... dog companions are near useless.

Disappear .... Yes they do. They fall through the floor. I took Stray Dog inside my house. Just his head shows above the floor. If I go down into the basemant, I can see his legs on the ceiling moving around.

Stray Dog needs to be fixed/tweaked.

I still wonder where he would go if I clicked 'go home'.

If you tell it to go home it'll just wander off.

I've had stray dog attack me when I stood there too long and didn't talk to it. I"ve also had stray dog wait, with wait here at my home then just disappear with a message that it was going home to its non existant home after I was gone for a couple of days.

That'll probably happen to me then. I told him to wait at one of my houses.

I've come across and taken the stray dog twice and both got in front of my power attack and met their fate.

Much better than the other dogs. The stray dogs I've found don't bark as much.

I've encountered him on the road between Dragon Bridge and Morthal. He sat at the side of the road, and when I came near him he barked and wandered off. After following him, I ended up at 'his' shack, with a dead guy and his journal in it (guy died of rockjoint or something). I've read the wiki article about it only now, and it seems "home" references to his shack. Also, if you tell him to wait someplace and leave him there for three days, it seems he'll go home by itself. Whoops. I left him at the inn of the village near Dragon Bridge, so I could find him again whenever I wanted. With a bit of luck, he'll still be there ...? Ah well, he was in good company.

Yah.... that's Meeko.... I've had him and other strays. But really - like the Fallout games, I just honestly don't want to be responsible for a pet which throws itself into combat - I spent more time keeping Dogmeat alive than I did playing the damn game....

Okay okay, I'm a patzer. Can't help it.

Completely random. I found the stray dog just outside of Riften in the wilderness taking on a pack of wolves. He/she followed me but has a nasty habit of disappearing for no reason. But that does not bother me. While it is nice to have a dog as a companion they just become a huge annoyance.

I found him near Whiterun, the tower where you fight your first dragon. I have him as a pet. One word of caution - he will leave after about 4 days if you make him wait. I do not know if you can get him back after that.
Does bark a lot but I like him. He is a good fighter, saw him tear up a bandit and spider once all alone.

I told him to wait in my house. He didn't.
Haven't seen him since.

I found one near Peak's Shade Tower, next to a wagon that had been hit by bandits.

Interesting... I also have him, and told him to wait inside breezehome while I completed a quest that required a little more stealth/quiet. During the quest, I received the message that the follower became tired of waiting, and went home. But, he couldnt go home, because he could not open the door. Now, I have a permanent house pet in Breezehome, because I can no longer access his dialog options to stay/wait/dismiss. He just sits in the house and barks.

Oh.... how neat! Yay, perm pet setup! I don't care if she barks, that's fine.... so I guess all you need to do is make sure she can't get close enough to the door to "glitch" it somehow....?

I'm not exactly sure how I pulled it off...lol. I believe he was upstairs keeping Lydia company while I was away. Any way, Lydia has a permanent pet when she and I are not adventuring together. My redguard spends most of his downtime in the Markarth home with his wife Senna. She doesnt like dogs, so it works out well. Poor Jordis has to stay in the Solitude home all alone when I am not using her. Maybe I can find another stray to keep her company in Solitude... Senna is very possesive, and does not appreciate dogs or housecarls around while she is with her husband.

Hmm. You can buy dogs in Markarth I think. I don't do companions period. In fact, I can hardly wait for the CK so I can get rid of the damn housecarls....

Indeed, I purchased the war dog in Markarth first. He was utterly worthless, as others have mentioned. He died on the very next quest fighting the hargraven over the nettlebane. His performance was so dismall, that I was not even motivated to try to re-load the game. The stray dog actually performed admirably in battle.... perhaps because I encountered him at a later level in the game. I actually liked him. Just, a little too noisy for some quests, hence the fateful decision to leave him behind which turned him into a perpetual house pet. Many agree with you about the companions. Indeed, they can be quite cumbersome, but I think they are great company and add complexity and strategy to your battles to use them effectively. My redguard loves both Lydia and Jordis. Lydia saved his hide on many occassions when he was a low level character. He protects her with his life as well. And, roleplaying from a male perspective, there is something sixy.... (not creepy) about cute female bodyguards protecting the character and his wife, while in bed. Unfortunately, Senna does not agree, so Jordis and Lydia normally stay at their respective locations and Markarth belongs to her. No housecarls.... or dogs.

I sent my dog home, but even though whiterun was my only house I didn't find him there.

Where did he go?

I've disliked the entire "group up" mechanic in every game I've ever played where it's included. Beginning with BG 1.... and I don't group in WoW either (occasionally with family to take out a level 85 instance.... but that's it). I'm a major loner.... and it's a lot more fun for me to figure out how NOT to need companions and still stay alive. Means I tend to level fairly slowly for sure. As well as saving a LOT.

For some reason, my characters just prefer companionship while playing. As much as I loved Oblivion, I didnt like the sense of loneliness my characters felt. Mage apprentices, KOTN knights, etc just didnt cut it. You mentioned Dogmeat and FO3. As much as my character loved Clover and Dogmeat, his progress in the game actually halted once he became attached to them. It was too much effort to keep them alive during the quests, but he liked them so much that the game just shifted into a free roam rpg, at the expense of completing the rest of the quests. Skyrim is hardly perfect, but I think it is a step in the right direction. But, I also appreciate the other side of the equation, and understand why folks dont like them. They are completely optional. Even if you want to be a thane, assign the housecarl to the blades........ or worse..

I guess since I spend my entire in-game "life" rp'ing what the current toon is doing (including interactions with people who are actually nowhere but in MY mind, therefore in hers....) I simply don't want "extras"....

I am a cat person. I don't like dogs. For me, if I see one of these animals in a game, I deliberately attempt to avoid adopting them. One of the reasons that I don't like dogs is that they have a tendency to like hearing themselves talk, and the very last thing I want to hear is an animal communicating incessantly with itself and the world. I love killing the wolves, and hate killing the sabre cats. When I see a sabre cat, I attempt to calm the animal with an illusion spell. When I see a wolf, I blast it with a fireball.

Um. You wouldn't get along with my RL kitty at all then. Her nickname is "chatty cathy".... for very good reason.

Take the road heading down the hill from helgen, there is a dog a bit down on the left that is being attacked by wolves. Save him and he will follow you

I have found 2 of these dogs so far one was where I said above and another was somewhere in the random fields nearby malakath

LOL, I had a cat like that once. Every time I came home, he had to tell me about his day... and then again every time he saw me again he had something to tell me. It was adorable, except when I was sleeping and the meowing woke me up.

Yeah. You don't want to get husband started on "the cat in the middle of the night...."