My dog is missing

I was playing Skyrim on my Nintendo Switch, and I was in Fort Dawnguard. I was about to go up one of the staircases, but I put my Switch down for a second and accidentally shot my stray dog with the crossbow I had equipped.

He was alive, so I made sure he didn't turn on me. He didn't, so I went up the stairs and onto the roof. I saw him follow me up the stairs, but I'm not sure if he followed me onto the roof. After a while of looking around, I jumped over the wall and down to one of the lower roof platforms. When I went back, I couldn't find him anywhere.

I tried buying a troll, I tried recruiting Sceolang, I tried fast traveling, I tried waiting, and nothing worked.

'Stray dogs' are easily lost (as their name implies).

Your only options, seemingly, are to

• load a save game from before your abusive behaviour;

• recruit the dog Meeko, as this will get rid of your current (unfindable) companion:

  Visiting and recruiting Meeko will automatically boot the Dragonborn's animal companion, including a missing dog. The player can then dismiss Meeko and recruit other animals.

  Meeko can be found "by the road to the south of Meeko's Shack in Hjaalmarch".