Dog and Cat Training

[Enchanted81]

Has anyone had any problems with training their dog(s) to hunt? My dogs skill bar never fills any further than the first black line.

[Ricalynn]

I seem to be having the same problem with cat and it's hunting skill as well.  It's been at this part of the bar most of the day


Oreo practices hunting with his catnip toy. 

[Chuckles_82]

I haven't got it yet (gotta wait one more day) but have you tried it with and without the traits that affect the skill gain rate? It might be a borky trait? (very hopeful, because I'll be very annoyed if the skill itself is borked right from the start). What about other new skills?

[MarianT]

Have you tried praising your dog when he does something related to hunting?

[Enchanted81]

I haven't got it yet (gotta wait one more day) but have you tried it with and without the traits that affect the skill gain rate? It might be a borky trait? (very hopeful, because I'll be very annoyed if the skill itself is borked right from the start). What about other new skills?

I haven't tried it without the hunter trait yet so I guess I'll see if I can get one of my cats to give it a go.

Have you tried praising your dog when he does something related to hunting?

My dog hasn't done anything related to hunting yet other than my attempts at training.


***Edit***

It's doing the same thing with my cat as well that doesn't have the hunter trait.

[RunAmokSims]

That's something I experienced. I took my Sim and her dog to a wooded area and used the train to hunt interaction. She talked and talked to her dog, the dog listened intently but the learning bar never went past the first level. I even gave the dog the genius trait and the fast learner LTR.

[AbrahamC]

Oh and something else I wanted to know. Is there any way to satisfy the Destruction bar, for a Puppy, other that chewing the furniture?

[RunAmokSims]

Oh and something else I wanted to know. Is there any way to satisfy the Destruction bar, for a Puppy, other that chewing the furniture?

Try doing what you would do for a real puppy. Buy the box of toys and use the chew interaction.

[Schipperke]

Oh and something else I wanted to know. Is there any way to satisfy the Destruction bar, for a Puppy, other that chewing the furniture?

There's a dog bone you can get in Buy mode that satisfies the destructiveness motive - I've only tried it with an adult dog, but I don't see why it wouldn't work for a puppy as well.  After a couple of days of chewing the bone, my dog gained the non-destructive trait.

[Ricalynn]

I was playing a townie house and yes the chew toys work for the puppies but you have to have your Sim pull them out of the box. 

[AbrahamC]

I was playing a townie house and yes the chew toys work for the puppies but you have to have your Sim pull them out of the box. 

Thank you! I knew there were dog bones in there but I couldn't get my puppy to grab one. Thanks for letting me know that a Sim has to get it for them.

[Carl]

The issue with training reeks of bug. I'm doing playtesting for a Cats guide, and just adopted an Elder. She had no hunter trait and no previous experience hunting. I got her toy, and after I clicked it to tell her to practice, she quickly gained two levels. She was sent outside for some stalking, and not only grabbed a few more levels, also adopted the Hunter trait. So, you can teach an old cat new tricks. Don't know about dogs yet I'll update this post with the results of elder dog training in a few.

Edit: Dog learned the skill fine, thankfully. What is odd is that I can't get him to take on the hunter trait. After one attempt at hunting I was able to praise him, which should help, but the option has disappeared entirely no matter what method i use to get him searching.

[Katluvr]

There is info on the TS3 forums that the cat not being able to train hunting may be related to a premium store item - the spell book that comes with the Gothic Library.  I wonder if it is the same issue manifesting with teaching dogs to hunt.   

[Deme]

I have it, and can't get racing on my horse above the first black line...So it could be. I wonder if there's some way to disable/uninstall it, and that would help?

[Katluvr]

I have it, and can't get racing on my horse above the first black line...So it could be. I wonder if there's some way to disable/uninstall it, and that would help?

You can uninstall any store items through the TS3 launcher.  You need to click on 'Installed Items' (I think that's what it is called) and uninstall from there - doing it from the 'Downloads' screen won't uninstall it.  At least that's my understanding of it.

You can also reinstall it at any time by downloading it again from your purchase history in the TS3 store, so it's not like you will lose the item for good if you remove it to remedy this possible bug.