The Sims 3 Pets Guide Essentials New Simology

Pet Trait Reinforcement

Sims are born with certain traits, and nothing ever changes that. Your intervention can keep an Evil Sim from stealing funds from charity or snatching candy from a baby, but deep at heart, he’s still an Evil Sim. Pets are totally different. Sure pets start with certain traits, but these traits can change. Whole new traits can be added. Traits can disappear.

Your Sims’ behavior toward their pets actually alters their pets’ traits. By praising good behavior and scolding wrongdoing, your Sims can mold their pets into well-behaved, successful animals that are a joy to have in the household. Conversely, if Sims are too busy, or inattentive to their pets’ needs, they’ll soon find their horses chewing up their garden, their dogs slurping up toilet water and peeing on the rug, and their cats scratching up the furniture.

Trait reinforcement is very intuitive. When you see your pet doing something you do or don’t want, click on them and see if you have a reinforcement option. If so, you can praise or scold the behavior. With lots of positive reinforcement (and an occasional scolding) your Sims’ pets will be scratching the post, peeing outside, or staying out of the vegetables. Likewise, if pets get away with bad behavior a few times, it soon becomes a habit.

Trained traits have a green outline, and say “Trained” in the tooltip.

Tip

Trait reinforcement is one of the coolest new features in Pets . Make sure to spend time reinforcing good behavior in your pets, and scolding no-nos.

Trait reinforcement is different than training, but it goes hand in hand. For example, you can train your horse in Racing skill, and also praise him when he autonomously chooses to Gallop Around. By praising his Fast trait related activity, you reinforce the Fast trait, and help prevent him from becoming Lazy. But if you fail to exercise him enough, he may still become Lazy.

With dogs and cats, you’ll want to praise behavior like peeing outside or using the scratching post. Playing with your pets, or putting toys in their environment will make them gain the Playful trait, which lets your Sims build Fun faster when playing with them. Remember to praise your dog for bringing in the newspaper, and shoo the cat off the kitchen counter when she’s begging.

Dogs, cats, and horses are fully playable members of the household, and you can always direct their behavior to avoid undesirable actions. But the trait reinforcement system is more true to how people and their pets interact, and gives you lots of scope to fully realize the potential—good or bad—of your pet.