Checked on 21 October 2026 against GONE Fishing 1.0 (20 October 2026, with the 20 October hotfix). Steam app 3645890 by GONE Studios. Forum dates are UTC.

Short answer. In GONE Fishing the dog comes from a dog bone: find the doghouse and the bone at your cabin, throw the bone into the altar, and the dog spawns the following morning [S3]. The cat is found around the map; once you find it you tame it, and pressing E on it sends it for bait [S12]. Jungle has no dog, and Arctic has a fox instead of the cat [S6][S7].

How to get the dog

The steps below follow Zanarkan13's guide videos, which were published before the full release and so describe Early Access.

  1. Go to the back of the cabin on Lake. In the video "Gone Fishing - Deep Dive Guide - Episode 1 - Lake" (30 September 2026) the host says "We're also going to find the dog bone" [S3] at [1:14].
  2. Carry the bone to the altar. The host says "take this dog bone and bring it over to the altar and throw it inside" [S3] at [1:24].
  3. Wait for the next morning. The same host says "The dog will spawn the following morning, giving you better odds on your gambling." [S3] at [1:24].

On Swamp, the video "Gone Fishing - Deep Dive Guide - Episode 2 - Swamp" (4 October 2026) shows the back side of the cabin and says "You have the dog house and the dog bone." [S4] at [2:19]. On Canyon, the video "Gone Fishing - Deep Dive Guide - Episode 3 - Canyon" (6 October 2026) places "the doghouse and of course the dog bone, which is right here in front of the cabin" [S5] at [1:22].

Which maps have a dog

MapDogCompanion noteSource
LakeDog bone near the cabinThe cat can be sent to get bait[S3]
SwampDog house and dog bone at the back of the cabinThe cat can spawn at several spots[S4]
CanyonDoghouse and dog bone in front of the cabinCat not covered in the part read[S5]
Jungle"there's no dog on this map""we do still have the cat"[S6]
Arctic"there is no dog house or dog bone to look for"A fox takes the place of the cat[S7]

The Jungle row comes from the video "GONE Fishing - Deep Dive Guide - Episode 4 - Jungle" (14 October 2026) at [2:13] [S6]. The Arctic row comes from "GONE Fishing - Deep Dive Guide - Episode 5 - Arctic" (17 October 2026) at [1:47] [S7]. Both were published before the full release. For how to unlock each map, see the maps page.

What the dog does

  • Gambling bonus. In the Early Access update of 9 October 2025, GONE Studios wrote "Summoning the dog (and keeping the dog alive) will grant you a 5% buff to gambling." [S11] The same post says the odds go "from 35% to 40%" for a gambling win when the dog is alive [S11]. The gambling pit itself is covered on the gambling pit page.
  • A second life. In the Early Access update of 28 August 2025, the studio described a mechanic where, if one player is left alive or you play single player and "the dog is alive, the creature will attack the dog instead of a player at night" [S10]. On 17 September 2026 Bigsexy repeated it in the forum: "If the dog is alive and you fail quota, the monster will take the dog instead of you and preventing a game over." [S15] Quota and death are explained on the quota and death page.
  • Commands. In the Early Access update of 9 July 2025, GONE Studios wrote that you press "f" on the dog to set you as the owner and "E" on the dog to switch between lantern and fish mode [S8]. The same note says the dog "will now properly pickup and return fish to the altar" [S8]. A later fix of 6 August 2025 covered the case where "holding down e on the dog would issue both commands" [S9].

How to get the cat

GONE Studios added the cat in the Early Access update of 22 November 2025, titled "Cat + New Fish + Worm Rework + Cosmetics + Fixes". The post says "Once you find the new cat, you can tame the cat and it will be your best friend." [S12] It adds that pressing "E" on the cat makes Sir Whiskers retrieve bait [S12]. For which baits matter, see the bait page.

Where to look depends on the map:

  • Lake: the Episode 1 host says the cat is on the back side of the cabin and "you can send to go get you some bait" [S3] at [1:14].
  • Swamp: the Episode 2 host names one spot with "if you're looking for the cat, it can be over here" [S4] at [5:28].
  • Jungle: the Episode 4 host says the cat can spawn on the bridge back to the cabin and in the first treehouse [S6] at [4:02] and [8:08].

When the cat gets lost

Players reported lost cats in the forum thread "What do YOU want fixed / polished?". DankYuumi wrote on 1 September 2026 at 10:38 UTC (post 29): "The cat always gets lost or clipped into the map." [S15] Bombibulous Quizzle replied on 4 September 2026 at 20:41 UTC (post 55): "Every save I have by day 5 the cat has disappeared off to somewhere and I can't find them" [S15].

GONE Studios had already changed this before those posts. The update of 11 August 2026 says that when the cat is put into "rest mode" and cannot walk back to the cabin, "the cat will simply teleport" [S14]. The posts show players still reporting lost cats after that update [S15].

The Arctic fox

The cat does not appear on Arctic. The Early Access update post of 7 February 2026 says "The arctic fox functions similarly to the cat but it can grab larger bait and runs much faster." [S13] It also says "you will have to settle for Frank the fox" [S13]. The Episode 5 host says there is no dog house or dog bone there and that the fox sits at spots near the respawn cave, near the cabin and near the gambling pit [S7] at [14:19].

What the full release says about pets

The full-release post of 20 October 2026 mentions pets once, in the musket section: every creature "can now be killed and used as bait (except for your pets, because I can't trust some of you)" [S1]. For the rest of the full release, see the page on the full-release changes.

Sources and version

Checked on 2026-10-21 against GONE Fishing 1.0 (20 October 2026, with the 20 October hotfix).