Intelligent pets... hard to choose!

[arualblues]

My partner and I are looking for a pet. Preferably, one that we wouldn't have to feed all the time, one that wouldn't die on us if we have to stay out of SL for some reason. We don't want animals for breeding, just a little friend we can pet and play with, a lot. We want a pretty smart pet, too. After going to a LOT of pet stores and stuff, we are currently torn between VKC and Zooby's.

The looks, that's a point for Zooby's: I haven't seen cats looking better or more realistic than Zooby's cats; they look amazing. Dogs rock too, VKC are second best for our taste. Their dogs look good; their cats, much less so.

About the AI, seems to be point for VKC: We heard that VKC pets are "smarter", you can teach them personalized tricks, while Zooby's pets seem to have a set of limited tricks that they can learn (and you have to pay for "Gems" for them to learn). Also, Zooby's pets need to be daily washed, fed and other daily-consuming L$ things in order to maintain their "Happiness" levels, or they will get sick, even if they won't die. To heal them? More L$. Is this information correct?

Co-ownership, a split point: I can set a friend as another owner and even transfer the pet to them, if he also wants to hold it or carry it around (attaching it). BUT on the Marketplace, Zooby pets appear as no transfer. While you can attach a VKC pet, and even grown big dogs can be trained to attach to you when you TP (according to a trainer we spoke to), they cannot be transfered and they only have one owner. But the VKC pets seem to be naturally "friendly" with everyone. As soon as you go there, they come greet you and any friend can pet them with them. The pets at Zooby's are rezzed as decoration, so you can't play with them to see them in action.

To be honest, I would love a mix of those two, with the looks of the Zooby's and the "personality" of VKC pets, if I understood everything correctly. But I guess you can't have it all.

Can other pet owners (or developers) help us out here? Did we get this correctly? Decisions, decisions...

[valerie Inshan]

You did get this very correctly. As for helping or giving an advice, I'm so totally biased... Can't live without my VKC dogs! They are indeed so smart, funny and friendly! And the pups are so cute!

[Persephone Emerald]

I don't know if the newer Zoobies are any smarter than they used to be, but I traded up from a Zoobie wolf to a VKC husky years ago. Zoobies can be set to attack strangers or specific people, so they're good for a watch dog that can push avatars off your parcel.

VKC's seem more intelligent & independent, but have strange quirks too, like jumping very high or sometimes getting stuck at the edge of your parcel. My VKC dog seems to love her interactive toys much like a real dog might obsess on a favorite one. Depending on how you set them, they might even ignore your commands sometimes to play with a favorite squeeky. (The VKC cats are actually designed to be harder to train than the dogs, since RL cats are more independent than RL dogs.) Because VKC pets learn which behaviors you reward, they can each develop their own pseudo-personality - but only if you interact with them & reward or punish specific behaviors. (A reward is telling your pet, "(name) good". A punishment is telling it "(name) bad".)

As for non-trained behavior, VKC dogs, are somehow attracted to other avatars & scripted objects, so they'll go around sniffing & greeting everyone & everything you have that's scripted, unless you tell them to do so quietly. This can be amusing or annoying, depending on your perspective. They can be told to follow other avatars, other VKC pets or Zoobie pets. They are in a sense friendlier than Zoobie pets, because they go to other avatars & let anyone pet them, while Zoobies will only allow the people you put on their friends list to pet them.

If you want a funnier, friendlier, more unpredicatable pet, I'd suggest a VKC. If you want one that will chase off strangers, follow a set path, & only behave for the people on its friends list, get a Zoobie. Both can intereact on their own with their beds, food & water bowls, but I think VKCs have more interactive toys that you can buy.

If you want a cat that talks to you & says funny things, you might consider Kitty Cats, but they require food.

[Sonja Smedley]

Hello.

I have a trainpet zooby monkey.

This one does not need food, only when you want to learn tricks.

They can be washed but without it they do not get sick.

You can also pet them with the hearts but this is also not necessary....mine is still the same, you don´t need to see the stats.

 

You can walk around with the monkey with a leash or it can follow you around.

You can hold it or pet it.

Teleport around with it.

Actually this was the best choice for me.Cause it is transferable in case you want to sell it or give it to a friend to take care of....

 

I also have the VKC dogs and cats in my inventory...but they are not my case lol.

The AI cats and dogs are also very sweet and you don´t need to spend lindens for food.

Too bad that they are no transfer, cause I also have 2 of them in my inventory.

 

All together I would say trainpet monkey and AI´pets are my number ones