Farm dog and cat
The dog in the doghouse and the cat in the cat tree are pets that give your farm extra happiness as long as you look after them. The dog moves in right away, but the cat you have to lure in first by collecting cat charms. Both animals learn new tricks and activities as you upgrade their home, and the game hands out rewards and experience points for regular care.
The dog and the cat are a small addition to your overall farm happiness that costs nothing but a few clicks a day, so it pays to fold them into your daily routine alongside feeding your animals rather than treating them as a priority in their own right.
The dog and the cat give your farm extra happiness
The farm dog lives in the doghouse and the cat makes its home in the cat tree. Both animals work as an extra source of farm happiness on top of what your animal buildings and other buildings give you, and all they need is regular care. I bring the dog its food, I pet the cat and click on it, and the farm picks up happiness on the side. On top of that, regular care keeps dripping experience points, so it is worth giving both of them attention every day, even if it is only a few clicks.
Both structures also grow as you upgrade them. Every upgrade of the doghouse teaches the dog a new trick, every upgrade of the cat tree unlocks a new activity for the cat. The higher you push the doghouse or the tree, the wider the repertoire the animals have, and the more fun they have, and I have too, watching them at work.
Your dog moves into the doghouse and you look after it with food and training
The dog moves into the doghouse as your loyal companion, and the reward for looking after it is exactly that extra happiness. The classic part is feeding, you click, pour out the food, and the dog stays happy for a set time, after which a notice tells you it needs feeding again. Training works separately from feeding, you train the dog by clicking on it, and daily training earns you a reward and experience points, much like daily feeding and playing.
A well-fed dog also wanders the farm on its own and finds small rewards that it carries back to the doghouse, and the higher the upgrade level of the doghouse, the better the treasures it brings. So it pays to upgrade the doghouse step by step, not only for the new tricks but also for the value of what the dog digs up. As the upgrades add up, the dog's tricks grow by these:
- chasing its own tail in circles
- sniffing, then stopping and pointing the way
- a backflip
- sitting up on its hind legs, the classic Sit and beg
- playing with a toy
- a short nap
- balancing a bowl on its nose
- sitting down and howling
- fetching a ball
- hunting for treasure, the so-called Find the treasure
You can name your dog and pick its color
You can name the dog whatever you like and later change the color of its coat as well. New colors are bought with gold, and a locked color is something you can only look at in a preview until you buy it.
Before you demolish the doghouse, say to free up some space, keep in mind that you lose all the progress the dog has made, meaning every trick it learned and its whole training history. The only thing that stays are the colors you already bought. Rushing this definitely did not pay off for me, tearing down a well trained dog just to shift the doghouse a few tiles is a pointless loss.
The cat has to be lured to the cat tree first
Unlike the dog, which shows up on the farm right away, the cat tree can stand empty for a long time. To get a cat to settle in with you, you have to collect cat charms from various sources in the game, so it is a gradual collection, not a one-off purchase.
If you do not want to wait, you can buy all the missing cat charms with gold and call the cat in immediately. Personally I prefer to collect the charms bit by bit and save my gold for other upgrades, but if you have gold to spare and want the cat right now, that shortcut is there for you.
Caring for a settled cat works much like caring for the dog
Once the cat settles into the tree, looking after it works much like with the dog, you play with it by clicking on it, the farm gains happiness for it, and on top of that you get a reward and experience points every day. After an interaction the cat stays happy for a set time, then it needs your attention again.
Upgrading the cat tree also gives the cat new activities, and the popular jump into the box is one of those that unlock over time.
