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.
