At the start of a conflict, the Gamemaster and other players decide what is at stake, determine which pools are applicable, and those are rolled at that point.

Players may bring in new dice by "escalating" the conflict, from non-physical (discussion) to physical (running away) to brawling and then to gunfighting.

Eventually Baker allowed the game to fall out of print due to his dissatisfaction with the setting and his belief that it promoted the history of colonization in the Americas.

Dogs was also notable for its revolutionary game design and for its existence as both an adventure story and a morality tale, all backed up by those mechanics.

"[5] Chase Carter for Polygon listed it as a "seminal" game of the late aughts "blooming of indie RPG designers", along with Apocalypse World, Fiasco, Lady Blackbird, and the Romance Trilogy.

[6] In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "There is a strong tension between the system, the setting, the moral requirements of the gameplay, and the sensibilities of the players, which almost certainly clash with the dominant, conservative social standards of the setting.