Scratch is a dog that you can “recruit” in Baldur’s Gate 3, in the sense that he’ll come live in your camp and have a quest for you now and again (which just means that he’ll bring you an item and maybe want to play fetch), but you can’t bring him into fights as a companion or anything risky. Even if he was a battle dog, I wouldn’t have it in my heart to bring him into the fray because he’s such a good boy. We’ll go over where to find Scratch in this guide.
How to Find and Recruit Scratch the Dog in BG3
Scratch is found just north outside of Blighted Village, and you can invite him to your camp by using Speak with Animals or being kind to him if you don’t have access to the spell.
When you cross over the bridge from Emerald Grove to the Blighted Village, head north and follow the path to find a body and Scratch the dog. The poor little guy is pacing around, waiting for his owner to wake up. For reference, I’ve included an image of the map location below to help you find Scratch.
Using Speak with Animals is the easiest way to communicate with Scratch and tell him that he can come stay at your camp anytime. You can try to tell him that his owner won’t be waking up, but he won’t believe you. Without the spell, you’ll want to be kind to Scratch and show him that you mean no harm. Then, let him smell your hand so that he can track your scent to camp.
After you find Scratch in Baldur’s Gate 3 and let him get your scent to track you, he should appear in your camp after your next long rest. Then, you can look at our BG3 guide hub for more topics like how to rescue Barcus Wroot and if you should use the Mountain Pass or Underdark to travel to Act 2.
