Make the dog bond less micromanagement | theHunter: Call of the Wild | Page 1

native charm Dec 15, 2024, 9:49 AM

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Right now you have to pet the dog extremely often because the bond goes down so fast. I would propose to scale the time for the dog to lose one bond level by factor 8 to 10.
Why? Because this minigame certainly becomes a sort of micromanagement if you have to feed your dog 10 or more treats on hunting session. It would become a really fat dog, if this was real.

Please make this minigame less often necessary. Just lower the speed of the dog losing bond by a large factor. Thanks.

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Make the dog bond less micromanagement

native charm Dec 15, 2024, 11:41 PM

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Bump

native charm Dec 16, 2024, 9:38 AM

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Bump

arctic condor Dec 16, 2024, 10:35 AM

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I think a lot of people take their dog with them when they don't really need to, then they forget about it and wonder why it doesn't respond when they do want to use it.
You shouldn't have to feed your dog that often. At the start of a session, the dog usually has only 1 heart bond. If you give them a treat, you should then only have to pet or play once to achieve 3 hearts and off you go. When hearts slip down from 3 to 2 you will get an audio cue, if you praise (whistle) your dog shortly after that, the hearts will go back to 3. If you can't praise at the correct moment because you're stalking, just wait until after the kill and go back through the process. Treat then play/pet. Alternatively you can use pet or play silently, but you have to stand up to do that.

native charm Dec 17, 2024, 9:28 AM

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Praising the sog once in a while is okay or feeding them a treat once in a while. But needing to do so every three minutes is just to much micromanagement. I am fine with the dog needing the owner's love, but not in that density. Please make it less often needed.

arctic condor Dec 17, 2024, 9:39 AM

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You only need to keep your dog's bond hearts up when you are using it or about to use it.

Otherwise, just let the bond drop to 1 heart. It has no consequences that I've noticed. Then when you need the dog give it a treat and pet it. It's really not a problem.

halcyon laurel Dec 17, 2024, 10:15 AM

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If you whistle praise to the dog as soon as it loses a heart, it will immediately go back up. You can easily keep the dog at 3 hearts without much effort.

fierce mesa Dec 17, 2024, 5:52 PM

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I do agree the interval is too short even with the trait added 😔 Its very tedious to keep up with it even with the praise after you lose a bond.

jade trellis Dec 17, 2024, 6:53 PM

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native charm Right now you have to pet the dog extremely often because the bond goes down so ...

What’s wrong with fat dogs?.. 😆

native charm Dec 17, 2024, 6:53 PM

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halcyon laurel If you whistle praise to the dog as soon as it loses a heart, it will immediatel...

I would say, no rl hunter would whistle every 3 minutes when out in the woods. This constant petting and praising is some kind of immersion breaker... Tell the whole fauna, that you are arounsd.
And yes, I use my pointer quite much. E.g. finding big game map with dense flora. I need the high bond all the time.

celest onyx Dec 18, 2024, 3:30 AM

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It's very frustrating, especially given that higher bond makes the dog work better. Drives me insane when I barely miss that little time period to praise the dog again

native charm Dec 18, 2024, 2:47 PM

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Exactly

native charm Dec 19, 2024, 9:45 PM

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Bump

cloud kettle Dec 19, 2024, 10:00 PM

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Pay attention to me or I'll whimper just as you're holding your breath to take a shot on a diamond

native charm Dec 20, 2024, 9:49 PM

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cloud kettle *Pay attention to me or I'll whimper just as you're holding your breath to take ...

Exactly... petting required every two minutes...

native charm Dec 25, 2024, 3:06 PM

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Bump

native charm Dec 27, 2024, 9:56 PM

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idle iron Dec 27, 2024, 10:04 PM

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native charm Exactly... petting required every two minutes...

i just got a dog and i agree its annoying

jolly maple Dec 30, 2024, 5:30 PM

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native charm Exactly... petting required every two minutes...

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1m 48 sec to be exact. It's ridiculous!

cloud kettle Dec 30, 2024, 5:36 PM

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jolly maple 1m 48 sec to be exact. It's ridiculous!

The EW Devs putting so much excellent work into modeling dog behavior, using motion capture, only to ruin the dog-experience by making them so unnecessarily irritating to use, is simply unacceptable.

idle iron Dec 30, 2024, 5:46 PM

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my bloodhound would be useful if it could track the first blood clue tbh

jolly maple Dec 30, 2024, 6:01 PM

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idle iron my bloodhound would be useful if it could track the first blood clue tbh

It can but put yourself in dog's shoes for a second. If you have like few blood splashes in small area how do you think dog should know which one to follow if you won't point it out?
All you have to do is to direct your cross hairs into the trail that you'd like your dog to start following and then simply give him "track" command while you still looking directly at the blood trail. Dog will follow this particular trail and will ignore others. If you won't point it out and tell the dog to track blood I assume he'll pick the closest one or just random and will track it.

idle iron Dec 30, 2024, 6:05 PM

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jolly maple It can but put yourself in dog's shoes for a second. If you have like few blood ...

rn i just shoot birds and i cant find them thats why i'd like the dog to do that

jolly maple Dec 30, 2024, 6:06 PM

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You need Labrador retriever then.

idle iron Dec 30, 2024, 6:45 PM

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jolly maple You need Labrador retriever then.

but then i cant use my bloodhound

jolly maple Dec 30, 2024, 6:47 PM

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You can learn your dog 2nd trick if it reaches max lvl 15 in his primary skill. That being said you can have bloodhound - retriever or pointer or Labrador - tracker or pointer.

idle iron Dec 30, 2024, 6:51 PM

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jolly maple You can learn your dog 2nd trick if it reaches max lvl 15 in his primary skill. ...

can you explain in simpler terms i suck at understanding stuff

cloud kettle Dec 30, 2024, 6:52 PM

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idle iron my bloodhound would be useful if it could track the first blood clue tbh

Once your Bloodhound is leveled up, you don't have to see any blood to command him to find it. Tell him to Track, and he'll find any blood in a 50m circle and go to it.

idle iron Dec 30, 2024, 6:53 PM

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cloud kettle Once your Bloodhound is leveled up, you don't have to see any blood to command h...

thats awesome ty

jolly maple Dec 30, 2024, 6:53 PM

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Make your Bloodhound skill up to maximum level 15 and you'll unlock his 2nd skill (2nd job). You can make him retrieve or point as 2nd job.

idle iron Dec 30, 2024, 6:54 PM

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i think mine is leveled up but in the menu it said he was a low level, the menu probably meant tracking level does it have to be tracking level or level?

cloud kettle Dec 30, 2024, 6:54 PM

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Insights on the Expert Dog combos and setting up traits are here: https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1320398817962627144

jolly maple Dec 30, 2024, 7:00 PM

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idle iron i think mine is leveled up but in the menu it said he was a low level, the menu ...

Tracking level

native charm Dec 31, 2024, 3:45 PM

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jolly maple 1m 48 sec to be exact. It's ridiculous!

Nice that you captured it. My intuitive guess of 2 minutes was indeed close to the real value. Lol.

In fact any irl hunter would tell the whole fauna, that he is around, if he had to praise the dog so often. Needing to praise and feed the dog that often looks like bad dog training. It is in fact neccessary to make time to lose a bond level longer at least by factor 10 or more. Praising / giving a treat every half rl hour would be much more okay... but even this would still be a really high density of needed attention and noise in the wild you have to make...

jolly maple Dec 31, 2024, 4:53 PM

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I agree 💯. I think anyone who ever had any dog (not hunting dog in particular) understand that these creatures bond with their owners for life. They love their owner unconditionally untill they die. Feeding them or praising every 1:48 sec in game to keep the bond in maximum level is just beyond common sense even for vide game. It's just stupid.

idle iron Dec 31, 2024, 4:54 PM

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what makes this even worse is the ui popping up and i hate ui's on my screen i have almost every ui off

native charm Jan 1, 2025, 6:36 PM

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I really hope, that EW sees this thread and considers some more user-friendly and also much more realism focussed changes on this particular topic.

Is there a certain way to attract the EW devs to this topic!? I know, that some of them replied in orher threads somehow.

jolly maple Jan 3, 2025, 7:49 PM

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native charm I really hope, that EW sees this thread and considers some more user-friendly an...

Use this link:

https://support.thehunter.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

native charm Jan 4, 2025, 10:41 PM

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cursive briar Jan 5, 2025, 3:23 PM

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Hey @native charm!

Thanks for your suggestion about the dog bond. It's a valuable tool in improving the game. We will make sure the suggestion is taken into account.

If you have any other suggestions, make sure to leave them here: https://support.thehunter.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

native charm Jan 5, 2025, 8:17 PM

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Woohooo !!! 😅
Thanks.

native charm Jan 11, 2025, 9:07 PM

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Just played using the dog features... I love them, but keeping up the bond is so tedious and annoying... Drastic (!!) reduction of the bond go down speed would make the dog so ... much... better.... but therefore we need a drastic improvement, not only a placebo improvement

jolly maple Jan 12, 2025, 2:29 PM

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Unfortunately the devs of this game aren't very keen on changing things drastically. I've just ended 2 week discussion via emails with support team trying to get them solve the issue with wrong colouring of shotgun shells. Sent videos, save files, wrote my opinions etc. just to receive an email today that all of my contributions will be taken under consideration in future updates.
It's long shot for them to get things fixed, I'm not actually sure why but that's the reality I'm afraid.

native charm Jan 12, 2025, 4:14 PM

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Mhhh... But this in particular is just changing one value of one variable. No changes in any gameplay mechanic needed. Just adding a zero (or two zeros) of the time to drop a bond level. 😅

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Just please don't make us having to feed the dog every few minutes. Irl dogs like treats, no doubt... but no dog would lose its bond within minutes since last feeding or petting or praising it. Hunting is about being stealthy, and not whistling all the time. 😅

native charm Jan 14, 2025, 9:58 PM

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Bump

fierce mesa Jan 15, 2025, 11:02 PM

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EW easy remedy for the bond depletion change the buff for treats to allow bond depletion to be cut in half or allow dogs bond to remain full for 15min over a treat recovering 1 bond. Its annoying that even with the bond trait it still depletes way too quickly. I shouldn't have to whistle every 5-10min to restore 1 bond while in use & don't get me started on how quickly bond drops while in idol just to recover bk to full bond. I don't mind the mechanic, but my focus should be in the hunt & not micromanaging my dogs bond every 5-10min with the bond trait active.

native charm Jan 15, 2025, 11:11 PM

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In fact, after feeding my dog and setting up for hunt, i don't want to having to whistle/feed/pet at all for at least an hour or so. This game is about being stealthy, and not about petting and feeding dogs.

sullen moth Jan 15, 2025, 11:11 PM

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Honestly it kinda seems like the focus and bond decay rates were accidentally swapped with the GSP patch. Focus seems to hold longer than it used to but bond is decaying very quickly. Wouldn't be surprised to learn that some value got reversed somewhere in the code.

fierce mesa Jan 15, 2025, 11:17 PM

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sullen moth Honestly it kinda seems like the focus and bond decay rates were accidentally sw...

It does feel flipped when the traits are active. Bond trait depletes bond while focus is longer & vice versa. Like I said I enjoy the immersive interaction alot but its excessive which would be fair prior to the trait being available. And I do feel the treats should buff the stats over just a single recovery. If I'm being honest my dogs would be so fat feeding them treats every 15min 😅

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If nothing else treats should cut the depletion time by 50 or 75% for a 20-30min time limit like the cover scent to keep it from being op but still balanced.

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I believe its the easiest solution but you might be right their could be a bug with the bond & focus traits

native charm Jan 16, 2025, 9:50 PM

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I don't have those bond/focus traits active and have to praise/feed the dog almost every two minutes to keep it at max level... this is so ridicolous. If filled up to the max, the player shouldn't have to feed the dog at least for an hour real time. I don't mind that minigame upon setting up for a hunt or upon map change, but i want to concentrate on hunting, not on dog management during the hunt roaming itself.

native charm Jan 16, 2025, 10:15 PM

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Also: while the pointer dog keeps searching for a trail/smell, the FOCUS should not go down. It should only start to drain, when the dog actively trys to stalk an animal. Just to keep this in mind, if the things switched up thing is the real root cause.

fierce mesa Jan 16, 2025, 10:51 PM

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native charm I don't have those bond/focus traits active and have to praise/feed the dog almo...

I expected it would deplete quickly prior to the traits but you have a valid point that its alittle too excessive of a decline. It is easy to max bond and whistle to restore a bond, but the intervals are too short both before & after the traits. If EW extends the depletion rate interval & allows treats to cut it more by X% with a 20-30min interval I think it would be a bit more favorable esp. if the traits stack with the treat buff.

native charm Jan 20, 2025, 10:07 PM

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Bump

native charm Jan 27, 2025, 5:33 PM

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Bump

jade trellis Jan 28, 2025, 2:26 AM

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I would consider negating bond loss entirely while in hunting lodges at least, my pup is always so comfy in the pillow bed.

It’s not G.O. time for my furry friend in the hunting lodge, all warm and relaxed. 😌

native charm Jan 31, 2025, 10:35 PM

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Bump

native charm Feb 1, 2025, 9:02 PM

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62 times thumps up

native charm Feb 3, 2025, 5:24 PM

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64x thumps up

native charm Feb 7, 2025, 6:54 PM

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65

native charm Feb 9, 2025, 10:02 PM

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67

native charm Feb 15, 2025, 11:48 PM

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native charm Mar 4, 2025, 9:26 PM

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70

native charm Mar 15, 2025, 4:50 PM

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74

native charm Mar 18, 2025, 11:50 AM

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native charm Mar 22, 2025, 10:24 AM

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native charm Mar 24, 2025, 8:11 PM

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76x thumps up.
Please EW, do something about it

native charm Mar 26, 2025, 10:47 PM

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native charm Apr 7, 2025, 7:45 PM

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native charm Apr 8, 2025, 9:29 PM

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77

native charm Apr 16, 2025, 8:04 PM

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80

native charm Apr 18, 2025, 10:22 PM

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81

native charm Apr 19, 2025, 10:04 PM

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Bump .... please EW, do something about it

native charm Apr 21, 2025, 8:16 AM

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Bump

jolly maple Apr 22, 2025, 12:00 PM

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Lol dude, give up.
They can't be bothered. I don't even see the point of fixing it anyway as it doesn't really matter nor have an actual impact on dog itself and how it's performance.

native charm Apr 22, 2025, 6:02 PM

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jolly maple Lol dude, give up. They can't be bothered. I don't even see the point of fixing ...

As far as I know the dog should perform better in finding animals etc. if at high bond level. Am I wrong? With my bloodhound i noticed no difference, but I am not sure about the pointers sensitivity. Any confirmed impact of the dog bond level?

jolly maple Apr 22, 2025, 6:24 PM

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I've got all of them dogs and see no difference tbh

native charm Apr 22, 2025, 8:33 PM

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I'd really like to know if it really is that way. Can anyone confirm?

native charm Apr 26, 2025, 6:29 AM

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82, won't give up yet

native charm Apr 30, 2025, 7:05 PM

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83

orchid marsh May 2, 2025, 9:31 AM

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Dont give up it needs to be fixed .... if dog bond doesn't matter then it needs to be fixed or removed ...

Also you should not have to give your dog treats every 5 mins to keep bond .... The only possible reason for this is that they just want you to buy more treats ...... Okay I can understand that .... So if that's your justification then I'll buy the treats ....

but as long as I have treats in my inventory make it automatic that the dog will stay bonded .... Don't make us stop every 5 mins to feed them ... this is just bad design and not fun ....

native charm May 5, 2025, 7:44 PM

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orchid marsh Dont give up it needs to be fixed .... if dog bond doesn't matter then it needs...

Exactly what you said.

native charm May 8, 2025, 7:59 PM

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native charm May 11, 2025, 4:37 PM

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native charm May 13, 2025, 7:57 PM

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native charm May 16, 2025, 8:59 PM

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84

native charm May 23, 2025, 8:33 PM

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native charm May 27, 2025, 7:24 PM

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native charm May 30, 2025, 1:50 PM

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86

native charm Jun 2, 2025, 8:59 PM

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native charm Jun 5, 2025, 10:14 PM

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native charm Jun 6, 2025, 10:03 PM

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native charm Jun 10, 2025, 4:04 PM

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native charm Jun 14, 2025, 9:28 PM

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native charm Jun 17, 2025, 5:19 PM

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native charm Jun 18, 2025, 8:51 PM

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serene frost Jun 18, 2025, 9:36 PM

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Wait so dog noises are heard by animals? I thought they weren’t wtf

idle iron Jun 20, 2025, 1:30 PM

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halcyon laurel If you whistle praise to the dog as soon as it loses a heart, it will immediatel...

its like pressing 2 buttons which is really easy but annoying after a long time

native charm Jun 22, 2025, 10:52 AM

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idle iron its like pressing 2 buttons which is really easy but annoying after a long time

Exactly. It adds no gameplay fun but breaks the immersion. No dog needs to be praised and fed every 2 minutes to keep loving you. This so much off. If you have to praise him every two to three hours, okay... but right now you are constantly praising him. Irl ypu would constantly spook the wildlife. Naaah. This is an immersion breaker.

idle iron Jun 22, 2025, 10:52 AM

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the ui popping up also ruins immersion a bit i agree

idle iron Jun 22, 2025, 4:00 PM

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also something about dogs leveling up them is not fun

native charm Jun 23, 2025, 4:35 PM

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idle iron also something about dogs leveling up them is not fun

It takes forever. Pressed new game button over a month ago and still don't have trained all 3 dogs to the max.

native charm Jun 24, 2025, 8:15 PM

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96

native charm Jun 27, 2025, 9:57 PM

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native charm Jul 6, 2025, 5:03 PM

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native charm Jul 12, 2025, 9:10 PM

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native charm Jul 13, 2025, 12:31 PM

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98

native charm Jul 14, 2025, 5:13 PM

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native charm Jul 18, 2025, 3:47 PM

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latent vector Jul 18, 2025, 4:02 PM

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1 more upvote till 100

lavish badger Jul 18, 2025, 8:20 PM

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how about that

native charm Jul 20, 2025, 8:33 PM

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100, wooohooo... Now let's go for 200

native charm Jul 30, 2025, 11:09 PM

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native charm Aug 2, 2025, 6:41 PM

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native charm Aug 6, 2025, 9:05 PM

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native charm Aug 10, 2025, 8:52 PM

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native charm Aug 16, 2025, 12:42 PM

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orchid marsh Aug 22, 2025, 12:40 PM

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Put some kind of bond meter on the UI .... something like the meter used when applying the cover scent .... So we have some kind of quick visual reference on the current bond level .....

and please make the bond last longer for a fully trained / traited dog .....

Also I cant really tell much of a difference when my dog is or isn't bonded ???

naive flint Aug 22, 2025, 1:11 PM

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It could be because i’m used to it but i don’t mind how it is as of now. Praise the dog when it does it’s job and the bond goes up way more than when you just try to keep the bond up, i’ve found doing this i don’t have to think of it as much, just everyone now and then praise your dog and especially when it does it’s job

naive flint Aug 22, 2025, 1:13 PM

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orchid marsh Put some kind of bond meter on the UI .... something like the meter used when ...

Use it enough you’ll realise it performs better, it isn’t a great difference but enough of it that dog hunting feels slower

native charm Sep 8, 2025, 9:33 PM

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The whole bond system is an annoying minigame we have to play way to often.

naive flint Sep 9, 2025, 7:42 AM

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I’m not saying btw it shouldn’t get improved because you know otherwise i would’ve said that. I do think it could use some better ways than to whistle praise a lot but i don’t really know what. Maybe you could just go and pet it every now and then or like play fetch or smthn

orchid marsh Sep 9, 2025, 10:42 AM

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The thing is I'm not even sure what bond does or even matters ... My dogs bond is always zero and seem to work fine as far as tracking, retrieving and pointing .....

And having a dog that is fully bonded doesn't really seem to matter as far as those skills go ....

It may have something to do with how closely they follow .... Ive been meaning to test that but haven't had the opportunity ....

#Make the dog bond less micromanagement