Sniffer Dog

A male Sniffer Dog

Other names

None

Debut

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Other appearances

Sinner's Reward

Health

Low

Locations

Subway World
Forest World
Building World
Apartment World

Weapons

None

Attack method(s)

Melee

A common enemy in Silent Hill 4: The Room, the Sniffer Dogs are dog-type creatures that have long, prehensile tongues that they use to drain the blood of their prey. They serve the same function as Groaners and Double Heads from previous installments.

Appearance

They have dirty, leathery skin which appears to be decaying and, strangely, make snarling sounds which resemble that of a large feline or even a frightened rat. Their gums are prominent and hold large, dagger-like canines.

The male variety has visible eyes, ears and green tinted fur and flesh. Females are missing eyes and ears and are purple-tinted, with longer, sharper claws. The gender and rank of the Sniffer Dog is betrayed by their coloration. Green-tinged Sniffer Dogs, considered to be males, are weaker and less threatening than the purple-tinged variety, considered to be females.

Character

The male Sniffer Dogs have green-yellow tinges to their skin and attack by charging and lunging at Henry Townshend's torso. Female Sniffer Dogs, which have a purple-pink appearance, are much more intelligent and tend to detect Henry's presence more quickly. The females are capable of grabbing onto Henry's leg and pinning him down while their companions attack him. The Sniffer Dogs often appear in groups and are usually witnessed feeding on monster carcasses, something they do via literally stabbing their tongues into the dead and fiercely sucking out internal fluids, suggested by the violent quivering of their heads while feasting.

Symbolism

Their canine form is a reference to young Walter Sullivan's fear of dogs after he visited a pet shop during his childhood and was nearly bitten by one. Additionally, their tongues bear a close resemblance to an umbilical cord, echoing Walter's longing for his mother. The numerous animal noises the Sniffer Dog makes may also be a nod to the pets Walter killed in Garland's Pet Shop. 

Sinner's Reward

In Sinner's Reward, female Sniffer Dogs are briefly seen feeding on a corpse. They are identifiable by their tongues. Jack Stanton notes how fast they can run.

Trivia

• It is possible that the Sniffer Dog's behavior is modeled after the "Hounds of Tindalos" created by Frank Belknap Long. The Hounds of Tindalos were said to be creatures with long, hollow tongues, or proboscis, to drain victims' bodily fluids, and supposedly inhabit the foul angles of time. The Sniffer Dogs similarly are unique to Walter's foul Otherworld while Henry and Eileen Galvin are of, in Joseph Schreiber's words, "the Lord's world".

Gallery

Concept art.

Female and male Sniffer Dogs.

Sinner's Reward.

A Sniffer Dog unaware of Henry.

Feeding on a fellow dog.

Three dead Sniffer Dogs.

Henry and Eileen ganging up on a Sniffer Dog.

Henry with Eileen as she attacks a Sniffer dog.

Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery