Dog Care

All of these things are optional, but certain activites will improve your racing performance.

Equipping Items
Below the hunger, thirst, mood, and energy status bars, you will see six empty item slots, labeled "Food Bowl," "Water Bowl," "Toy," "Collar," "Harness," and "Booties" respectively. Before you may begin caring for your dogs, you must first equip them with both a food and water bowl. You can buy bowls and other items from  K9-Mart, or by searching  Items For Sale. In empty slots, you will see dropdown menus containing certain items from your Inventory. Select the items that you want to use in each of those spots, and click "Add Items" on the dog's page.

You must also assign your dog a food, water, and toy before you can begin feeding, watering, or playing with them. In a moment we will discuss why these activies are important, and how to choose the items to use. Though, it will be useful to know how to assign these items. You can do this on a dog's profile. Look at the left-hand side of the screen, and scroll down. You will see slots labeled "Food", "Water", and "Toy" along with dropdown menus containing certain items from your Inventory. Choose the appropriate items, and click "Submit Changes" to save. After you have assigned these items, you will be able to feed, water, and play with your dog from his profile page.

Feeding & Watering
A dog can eat and drink three (3) servings of both food and water each day. Each serving will earn you five (5) experience points. That's a total of 30 experience points per day just for feeding and watering your dog.

There are three brands of food: Caesar (dry kibble), Green Gazelle (dry kibble), a

nd Raw Meats. There five flavors of each brand available, and each has a chance to increase a certai

n health statistic. Dry foods also increase a dog's energy, while raw meats have a chance of increasing a dog's Immunity Points. There are currently three types of water on the game: tap water, spring water, a nd artesian water. Tap water is a free option, but it has no other affect on a dog other than satisfying thirst. The other two options may increase a dog's Immunity Points.

Playing
You can play with your dog as long as it is at least 10% energized*. Each session will earn you four (4) experience points, but cost your dog 10% energy. Keep in mind that you can't use any toy to play with your dog. Certain personalities prefer different toys, and you will need to figure out which one best suits your dog's personality.

* Mushers who have reached level 30 may only play with each dog up to three (3) times a day.

Training Statistics
Training your dogs is how you raise your dog's traditional statistics to their fullest potential. You can train your dog at the public  Training Area, or by searching  Jobs Opened. Training your dogs at the public Training Area is free, but you must have purchased your own training items. If you employ another player's Training Area, then you use will their equipment – even if you're not yet at a musher level to unlock it yourself.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Every training session has the potential to raise a dog's Training Points in the statistic area that you choose. Each of the five traditional statistics has its own set of Training Points. Once a certain area of Training Points have increased to a score of 10 (ten), the traditional statistic will gain +1 point and the respective Training Points will be reset.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">The chance of success at training depends on your dog's Train Ability. This is a number that represents how easy it is to train your dog; that is, how quickly it learns. This is a number that ranges from 1 to 20, and will never go any higher than that. A dog with a Train Ability of 1 is going to take a long time and lot of training to improve, while a dog with 20 will start to improve immediately and much more drastically. <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Every time you train a dog – regardless of which kind of Training Area you use or the outcome of the session – it will consume 10% energy from each dog. The benefit of using another player's Training Areaover the free alternative is that player jobs, and only player jobs, have the chance to improve your dog's Train Ability.

Health Care
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Your dogs need to be healthy to race, train, or breed. Racing also requires your dogs to be up-to-date on their vaccinations and physical examinations. For this reason, it's important to be diligent with their vet care! You can take your dogs to the public  Veterinarian<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;"> or find a player's job by by searching  Jobs Opened<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">. There is no difference in the services provided, but a player's vet may be less expensive.
 * Physical Exam: The vet will give your dog a physical exam to check its health and soundness for racing. This must be performed once a week. If your dog is injured in a race, bring him to the vet for a physical exam to cure him so that he can race again.
 * Renew Vaccines: The vet will update your dog's vaccinations. This must be done once a month.
 * Spay/Neuter: Spayed or neutered dogs will no longer be able to breed, but they also can be paired with other dogs of the opposite gender on a team without any problems, unlike intact dogs, so this is a very useful option for some dogs.
 * Retire: Normally dogs retire at the age of 100-105 days (possibly slightly longer if they are in a long race at 105), and inbred dogs normally retire at the age of 50-55 days, but you can retire your dog early at the vet if you wish. Retired dogs can be viewed in the special retired section of your kennel's "Dogs" tab, but they no longer take up room in your kennel, they can no longer be raced or bred, and they no longer require care.
 * Cull Litter: If you accidentally bred the wrong dogs or are not happy with the outcome of a breeding, you can take the mother to the vet to cull the litter. She will be able to be bred again immediately.

Improving Personality
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">The Behaviorist is here to help you work with your adult dogs to improve their personalities. You can find one at the public  Behaviorist Office<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">, or by searching  Jobs Opened<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">. If you employ another player's job, then you will have a 50% chance of success (verses only 20% at the public Behaviorist Office).

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'OpenSans',Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">A dog may be successfully improved by a Behavorist two (2) times during his lifetime. Each session will consume 25% of a dog's energy. After you have used the Behaviorist – regardless of which kind of Office you use or the outcome of the session – the dog will need to wait a minimum of twelve (12) hours before it can see a Behaviorist again.

Note: If you're not sure whether a dog's personality has already been improved twice – check under the History tab, and compare his original personality to his current one.