Taming a wolf in Minecraft is one of the game's simplest joys, and no matter how many times I start a new world, I always stockpile bones in case I encounter one. But once you've adopted a companion dog, you can hide them in a house for safekeeping, protecting them from the horrors of the game's hostile mobs. Today, Minecraft is adding a way to make them a little stronger – wolf armor.
Like leather armor, wolf armor can be colored with in-game dyes, so if you have multiple animals, you can still easily tell them apart. This variation also separates the collar color, creating many possibilities. Even better, the game also adds wolf fur variants for the first time, bringing eight new models for a total of nine. Each variant (Pale, Forest, Ash, Black, Chestnut, Rust, Spotted, Striped and Snow) spawns in a specific biome. You can see all the new varieties in the gallery below.
Of course, players will also need to craft this wolf armor, which is where the new mob, the armadillo, comes in. These armored relatives of the anteater can be found in savannah or badlands biomes, where they can be seen strolling around and curling up into a defensive ball when Some enemy approaches. Armadillos drop armadillo scales, which are used to make wolf armor, but the developers have reassured players that they can be defeated instead of defeated, so you won't be in for an armadillo massacre to protect your pets. Armadillos can also be used to repel spiders since they eat real-life insects and arachnids. Additionally, spider eyes can be used to breed them if you want to create your own armadillo farm.
You can read the rest of the patch notes for update 1.20.5 right here.
