Mojang finally adds more than one type of dog to Minecraft, after over a decade of players struggling to tell their wolves apart

Character holding a bone and standing next to eight wolves — (Image credit: Mojang)

If you've ever been too terrified to take your Minecraft wolf out on an expedition for fear of creeper explosions and pillager raids, then boy, do I have news for you.

Today, Mojang announced on Twitter that wolves will receive a significant update in Minecraft, including new variants and wolf armour. While these changes are still in the works, you can try them out for yourself by enabling snapshots for Minecraft: Java Edition or in the previews/beta for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.

I'm overjoyed. Not only will I finally be able to tell my army of wolves apart without needing dozens of nametags and a magnifying glass, I'll also be able to finally give my pets the protection they deserve.

It's an update that's well overdue, considering cats had the privilege of 11 variants on release back in 2012, and there are 2,700 different tropical fish. You'll still be able to find and tame the original (now called the pale wolf) in the taiga biome, but there's also the rusty, spotted, black, striped, snowy, ashen, woods, and chestnut wolves to find and add to your pack. Some wolves will be rarer to find than others, but if you keep your eyes peeled you'll be able to collect them in no time.

The new wolf armour will absorb all enemy damage until it breaks, "protecting your wolf's hearts from those pesky creeper blasts" according to a Minecraft blog post. You can even repair the armour on the go using armadillo scutes. Once fully grown, wolves will also now have 40 hearts—they used to only have 20 (that's health, not organs, for the uninitiated). This means your beloved pets will be safer than ever.

My wolves have been the victim of random creeper explosions and stray skeleton arrows too many times. It got so bad that I gradually stopped taking them on adventures in fear of losing more, but they weren't even safe at home. One fateful day, I came home to see my pet sitting at the bottom of a sky-high wooden tower. Before I knew it, one of my friends had dropped an anvil right on my wolf's head from their makeshift tower of death, instantly killing him. I can't say for sure whether dog armour or more health would've helped the situation, but at least my pets will be slightly safer now.

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Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.