Why Do Pets Forget Where Their Food Bowls Are & If Housebroken Still Need To Be Told To Go Potty????

Sha2520032003

Is anyone else experiencing this? I'm seeing this more with dogs than I am with cats.....but my goodness is this annoying. Both of my dogs are housebroken and still need to be told to go potty. & they constantly forget where their food bowls are.

Is this a glitch or is there anyway around this or something you've found to make this easier? I'm honestly at the point of getting rid of my dogs, because they're just driving me crazy with all this forgetfulness.

LaBlue0314

I think what I would do would to build them their own little fancy doghouse, not big, but big enough to put in their doggie beds. Then on the outside of the home, add a little porch covering, to protect the food dishes from the winter elements. Don't put in the normal human size doors, but the animal size ones. Then lock the doors to the main house to not allow the dogs into the main home. Once they start going outside on their own, without you having to tell them to, then unlock the doors to the main home to allow the dogs back in.

Wait...Your sim doesn't live in an apartment, do they? If they do, then this is a common issue with apartments.

kalaksed

what world does this household live in, also, do the dogs have the 'smart' trait? that's currently bugged and smart dogs can never learn to be potty trained (you've got to cheat a different trait on until they learn then cheat smart back in).

also, what do you mean about forget where their food bowls are?

Sha2520032003

kalaksed wrote: »

what world does this household live in, also, do the dogs have the 'smart' trait? that's currently bugged and smart dogs can never learn to be potty trained (you've got to cheat a different trait on until they learn then cheat smart back in).

also, what do you mean about forget where their food bowls are?

@kalaksed Thank you for responding. My Sims are in Willow Creek. One of the dogs had the smart trait....I removed it awhile back, and then got the notification that she was potty trained. The other dog, a Boxer, my Sims have had since a puppy....he was potty trained when he was a puppy. He's an adult now. For awhile, both dogs went outside on their own. But I had my Sims go on vacation (twice)....and now that they've returned it's as if the dogs have forgotten that they're potty trained. They wait by the door, with that thought bubble over their head, & they're waiting to be told to go potty.

& then the food....I keep getting a notification that the dogs are hungry & to feed them....even though both of their food bowls are full. It's like my Sims have gone on vacation, have come back and these dogs are clueless on things they already knew how/what to do.

Sha2520032003

LaBlue0314 wrote: »

I think what I would do would to build them their own little fancy doghouse, not big, but big enough to put in their doggie beds. Then on the outside of the home, add a little porch covering, to protect the food dishes from the winter elements. Don't put in the normal human size doors, but the animal size ones. Then lock the doors to the main house to not allow the dogs into the main home. Once they start going outside on their own, without you having to tell them to, then unlock the doors to the main home to allow the dogs back in.

Wait...Your sim doesn't live in an apartment, do they? If they do, then this is a common issue with apartments.

@LaBlue0314 Thanks for the tips. No my Sims don't live in an apartment. They live in a home in Willow Creek. Both of these dogs were potty trained before and knew where their food bowls were. I sent my Sims on vacation and they have come back to their dogs not knowing what to do. It's like they have to re-learn everything. I just don't understand it. This isn't the first time I've seen it.....it seems to be universal in all of my Saves, the dogs forgetting where their food bowls are...and getting notifications that they're hungry, etc.

littlemissgogo

I think dogs that aren't gluttons have a tendency to wait until they're REALLY hungry before they bother to go eat. quite a few of mine do that but they manage to find their way to their bowl sooner or later. as for the potty issue, I'm not sure. all my dogs are potty trained and potty on their own but I haven't been on vacation recently either.

SheriGR

kalaksed wrote: »

what world does this household live in, also, do the dogs have the 'smart' trait? that's currently bugged and smart dogs can never learn to be potty trained (you've got to cheat a different trait on until they learn then cheat smart back in).

also, what do you mean about forget where their food bowls are?

My dogs have the smart trait and are potty trained. I use a doggie door with a tiny, separate landing-only exit to it (no deck) which broke them of peeing and pooing on the deck. I lock all other doors and for them except the doggie door. When training them I would have my sim call them to the yard and tell them two times to go potty. Until I made the separate, tiny deck they would pee/poo on the deck, and that pee would sometimes 'teleport' to inside the door (or into the yard, depending on where they peed on the deck). Super weird. This is a pic of how I built the doggie-deck in my first house with these dogs (2 with the smart trait). Also, you need to have a tile/space between the people deck and the tiny doggie deck or they will walk through the railing (even the glass one)over to the other deck. Or I expect using a wall instead would stop that? I just tried the spacing and that fixed that little trick. I reproduce this exit in all of the houses I have used with these dogs (3 or 4 of them). Anyway, it seemed to help a lot with my potty issues. I also have occasionally thought they had an accident by the front door then realized that I think it is a thing when it's raining outside. The sims coming in leave a puddle? Is it possible this is the case and that may be part of the puddles you're seeing also? Just a thought... (I also got a 'roomba' .)



Also, I have an auto-food dish, and read where some folks thought the maid takes the dish. I watched the maid and in my game she's taking the food in the dish (not the dish) as trash. It auto-refills after that. I'm wondering if the annoying thing of having to call them to the full food dish that was already full the they are pining for food (from the auto feeder) may be some finicky thing of them not preferring to eat it if it has sat (as in the maid took it as trash/old food)? Not sure, but it doesn't make sense and is something they should fix/change.

kalaksed

oh, the hunger thing is most likely right after you load the household or return to the lot? i get that too, and it's annoying when it's the cat saying 'i want a nice clean litterbox' while sitting next to the litterbox... it's just a...quirk of travel that i'm not too fond of but deal with. not long after you get the announcement of hunger or needing a litterbox, they'll usually go 'ohwait, the thing i want is right over there' and go take care of it

SheriGR

kalaksed wrote: »

oh, the hunger thing is most likely right after you load the household or return to the lot? i get that too, and it's annoying when it's the cat saying 'i want a nice clean litterbox' while sitting next to the litterbox... it's just a...quirk of travel that i'm not too fond of but deal with. not long after you get the announcement of hunger or needing a litterbox, they'll usually go 'ohwait, the thing i want is right over there' and go take care of it

That makes sense. But then again, you never know what all pets are up to, and these are sims on top of that so... there it is.

BabySquare

The thing that annoys me most is that you can encourage a dog to do its business, but when the cat tells you they'd like a nice, clean litter box you can't direct them to use it. My sims have to go stand next to it and call the cat over, hoping it'll get the message.

SheriGR

BabySquare wrote: »

The thing that annoys me most is that you can encourage a dog to do its business, but when the cat tells you they'd like a nice, clean litter box you can't direct them to use it. My sims have to go stand next to it and call the cat over, hoping it'll get the message.

That is annoying. Not getting a cat. I do have all the catnip plants in the front yard, though, but it doesn't seem they come into the yard if it's not their home?

BabySquare

SheriGR wrote: »

BabySquare wrote: »

The thing that annoys me most is that you can encourage a dog to do its business, but when the cat tells you they'd like a nice, clean litter box you can't direct them to use it. My sims have to go stand next to it and call the cat over, hoping it'll get the message.

That is annoying. Not getting a cat. I do have all the catnip plants in the front yard, though, but it doesn't seem they come into the yard if it's not their home?

I've never known other pets to stray onto a sim's home lot.

Also on the subject of litter boxes, IRL, cats would ignore a request to use one, so that bit's accurate, but also IRL, in such a situation you'd pick up the cat and place it in the litter box, as one does when litter training kittens, but in the sims you can't "put {cat's name} down here" in a litter box; click the box and the only option is "put in inventory" - who on earth wants a litter box in their inventory?

kalaksed

oh, when i get the 'nice, clean litter box' thing i just totally ignore them (same with both dogs and cats asking for food as soon as i swap to the lot) because within a very short amount of time, they'll realize those things are actually there and they'll take care of their needs on their own again

also, i'm happy you can put litter boxes in your inventory. makes it easier to take cats on vacation with your sims if they're into that

as for the other pets straying onto lots, there are specific lot traits that allow that. some people like setting up pseudo-animal shelters or such with a sim or three, lots of pet beds, litter boxes, food dishes, toys and such and just let all the strays come, eat, maybe get a bath, hang out, do whatever

SheriGR

kalaksed wrote: »

oh, when i get the 'nice, clean litter box' thing i just totally ignore them (same with both dogs and cats asking for food as soon as i swap to the lot) because within a very short amount of time, they'll realize those things are actually there and they'll take care of their needs on their own again

also, i'm happy you can put litter boxes in your inventory. makes it easier to take cats on vacation with your sims if they're into that

as for the other pets straying onto lots, there are specific lot traits that allow that. some people like setting up pseudo-animal shelters or such with a sim or three, lots of pet beds, litter boxes, food dishes, toys and such and just let all the strays come, eat, maybe get a bath, hang out, do whatever

Oh my goodness... Doggie Daycare! No, I have that in my living room (where my computer is). Too much reality... and deja-vu all over again. Maybe I'll see if I can plant them outdoors in the community park (it includes a community greenhouse). I made across the street. I should have done that on build. Duh. Would cats wonder in and eat the catnip if the community lot isn't in Bridleton Bay? Would cats visit a community lot, even if it wasn't 'designated' as a cat hangout?