Doghouse

@wormstache999 Thank you for sharing that. This is the first time I have seen that post. Now I am angry, disgusted and disappointed again. I guess that is what I get for believing unconfirmed rumors. I honestly did not believe that personal bias could be the reason for not adding something many of us consider important to the game.

Please don't bring up this again. We have moved on from that huge debate at the time. Please find those old threads.

I believe they were taking the advice of Animal Care Charities in America and other countries who don't like them for house pets. Sled and farm dogs are another matter. but we don't have such in the game at the moment, anyway.

There were some horrific stories of dogs being found frozen on homeowners doorsteps last year as I remember, kennel or no kennel.

As far as strays in Brindleton Bay go, I don't find many around in winter and have put shelters and food in my gardens for them or even adopted them. Mayor Whiskers is very happy in my game.

"Simburian;c-16588245" wrote:
Please don't bring up this again. We have moved on from that huge debate at the time. Please find those old threads.

I believe they were taking the advice of Animal Care Charities in America and other countries who don't like them for house pets. Sled and farm dogs are another matter. but we don't have such in the game at the moment, anyway.

There were some horrific stories of dogs being found frozen on homeowners doorsteps last year as I remember, kennel or no kennel.

As far as strays in Brindleton Bay go, I don't find many around in winter and have put shelters and food in my gardens for them or even adopted them. Mayor Whiskers is very happy in my game.

Not everyone was active here at the time when this whole topic was discussed. It makes sense for people who just bought the pack or joined the forum to be confused about the lack of such a normal pet item.

"Dannydanbo;c-16588276" wrote:
That's what I don't understand. Grant thinks having "outside" dogs is wrong and should be done away with because, I'm guessing, he thinks it's cruel, yet there's a ton of strays that have no home, no bed, no one to feed or bath them and that got worse with Seasons. Yet, that's okay, but doghouses are somehow evil. How about you let me decide about doghouses all on my own. After all, that excuse of "we like to make stuff so players can decide how they want to play" has been used for other stuff, but not doghouses. Grant's a doghouse shamer. Shame on him.

At the same time he loves pet clothing which is really weird because putting animals in weird costumes for fun seems like a much bigger issue to me. (And no, I'm not talking about a loose raincoat for your apartment dog but actual costumes)

Here is my story of why the "weird relic of the past" also called a doghouse is important to me. I have told this story before but it was deleted.

We moved around a great deal while I was growing up and one of the first things we did at each new home was build a doghouse. The new house did not feel like home until the doghouse was complete and under the best shade tree. We even tried to make them match the house we were living in at the time.

My Dad was amazing. Way before humane animal shelters existed he was always finding and rescuing animals. We were usually able to find good homes for them but sometimes because of the animals age or personality an animal was hard to place. We always had canine family members. We also lived a very outdoorsy lifestyle and we were rarely indoors. The doghouses gave our dogs a place to lounge and still be part of the family action. All of our dogs basically hung around with us. If we were outside the dogs were outside and if we were inside so were the dogs. Occasionally, we would get a dog that took a little longer to trust and did not like being indoors. The doghouses gave them a safe place out of the weather until they realized how much fun could be had in the house with us. My dad is long gone but I still have the last doghouse we made together under the best shade tree in my yard and I do not even have a dog.

So I will keep my "weird relic of the past" thank you very much.

"Dannydanbo;c-16588276" wrote:
That's what I don't understand. Grant thinks having "outside" dogs is wrong and should be done away with because, I'm guessing, he thinks it's cruel, yet there's a ton of strays that have no home, no bed, no one to feed or bath them and that got worse with Seasons. Yet, that's okay, but doghouses are somehow evil. How about you let me decide about doghouses all on my own. After all, that excuse of "we like to make stuff so players can decide how they want to play" has been used for other stuff, but not doghouses. Grant's a doghouse shamer. Shame on him.

It's their game. They set the rules. You have the option to get the mod that someone was willing to make to accommodate you

I can't believe you guys are so ridiculously upset that they didn't give you doghouses...

I believe that what's upsetting is the personal bias that keeps creeping into the game -- a game that's supposed to be about the player creating their own "world" and running their Sims lives the way that they see fit.

"You Rule." That's the slogan that launched TS4. However, that has never been the underlying mission of the game. Not when the producers/developers make decisions on content based on their own personal likes/dislikes.

Dog houses are iconic and there will be no real dogs or cats harmed in the game if the players are given one. That particular argument is what's really silly.

"sillehbee;c-16588420" wrote:
I can't believe you guys are so ridiculously upset that they didn't give you doghouses...

It's more than that, I'm upset because people on the Sims team think I'm a terrible person because I want to give my simulated dogs a dog house, simulated being the key word here.

"sillehbee;c-16588487" wrote:
{EA_Lanna: Quote removed}

Actually those things can and do happen in game. When TS4 first launched, incestuous interactions were a real issue. To be honest, it's still an issue because Sims don't recognize extended family members as such.

As for murder: Players murder Sims all of the time and the producers delight in offering new ways to make that happen. So, why is a doghouse such a sore spot?

"wormstache999;c-16588045" wrote:

"Dianesims;c-16587740" wrote:
What's paradoxical to me is they didn't put dog houses in the game because they think it's cruel, but NPCs don't care about their pets, they're always sick and/or dirty, often hungry......

It's something that really annoys me. I constantly have a bunch of strays in front of my house who are dirty and sick. They keep throwing up, collapsing, trying to get up and collapse again.
Yeah, it's pretty hypocritical how they suddenly seem to care about in-game dogs when it comes to doghouses, but everything else doesn't seem to matter. I still can't wrap my head around this whole thing.

You're not wrong. The strays walking around are constantly sick, and it's very sad. Not only the strays, but I even see non-active sims with their dogs all sick, and they weren't prompted to take their dog to the vet until I took mine in. I was pleased to see that it ever happened at all, but they should be able to take them in without me being there.

The Sims 4's strays are clearly more miserable than any strays from the previous entries. The team made them that way. It is a bit odd that they take issue with dog houses, but then allow this to happen.