The Sims 4added dogs to your favorite game with the release of the Cats & Dogs expansion pack. Complete with doggie obstacle courses, chew toys, and visits to the vet’s office, The Sims has yet again replicated some of the most rewarding aspects of human life.

There are, of course, challenges that come along with owning a dog — but we’ll let your Sim worry about that. Ready to make your Sim a pet owner? We’ve broken down every step in creating the perfect canine. Man’s best friend? More like Sim’s best friend!

How To Add A Dog To Your Household

Adding a dog to a household in The Sims 4 is very easy. All you have to do isnavigate to the Create A Sim menufor whichever household you’d like to add a pet to. You’ll see your household members in the bottom left corner, along with an icon showing a human figure next to a plus sign with the label ‘Add A Sim.’

Select this button to generate a pop-up menu, where you’ll find the’Add A Pet’button shaped like a paw print.

If your household already has two or more dogs (who aren’t related), you’re able to use the’Make A Mix Breed’button to breed two dogs together and create a puppy!

Finally, select the dog-shaped icon labeled’Add Dog.‘Once selected, a randomized dog will appear in the center of the screen, now referred to as the “Create A Pet” menu, ready for you to customize.

How To Customize Your Dog’s Appearance In Create A Sim

You’ve successfully added a dog to your household, but, likely, it doesn’t look exactly like what you envisioned. Click on the dog’s bodyto generate customization options on the Create A Pet screen.

The pose buttons at the top of the screen can be used tomake your dog take different positions, allowing you to see and edit them from many angles.

There are tons of options for customizing your new pet,enabling you to edit even the smallest of details.If you’d rather bypass all this,feel free to use the ‘Randomize’ button.

Breed

You’ll want to begin the customization process in the “Breeds” panel, which can be accessed by clicking the paw-shaped icon at the top of the right-hand detail menu. The breed you select will have a major impact on your dog’s appearance, sochoose the breed that best suits your dog and work from there.

There’s a lot to browse through here: the game includesa whopping 125 dog breeds! Interestingly, there’s also one special breed that you can find on this menu: the fox. You’ll find the Breed Mixer tool at the bottom of the Breeds menu,where you can randomize your selections or choose two breeds to see their genetic hybrid.

If you have a specific breed in mind, save yourself some time by using the search bar at the top of the Breeds panel.

Fur And Coat Color

To edit your dog’s tresses, you can use three tools: Fur, Coat Color & Pattern, and Paint Mode. The Fur panel (represented by the scissors icon) can be used to determine thetexture and lengthof your dog’s hair, and there are lots of options to choose from, like wiry fuzz or fluffy curls.

Then, move on to your dog’s Coat Color and Pattern, which can be foundby clicking on the button that looks like a cow’s hide; this will generate many options, and each one offers your dogfeatures like spots, stripes, or even robot-like armor.Change the colors featured in the coat pattern by clicking the color palette at the top of the panel.

you may get more specific with your dog’s coat in Paint Mode. Paint Mode is a tool that allows you to usestamps, stencils, and brushesto make very specific creative changes to your dog’s coloration! Navigate there by selecting the button shaped like an artist’s palette.

Body And Tail

Just like in Create A Sim, the two sliding bars to the left of your petcan be used to change your dog’s fat and muscle levels.you may also use the Body panel (accessed by clicking on the icon shaped like a dog)to change the shape of your pup’s body, accentuating different parts of its form.

Create A Pet also offers manytail options, found by selecting the button shaped like a dog’s tail. Some tails are springy, some curly, and some bobbed.

Facial Features

Clicking anywhere on your dog’s face will generate a completely new menu where you canedit everything from your dog’s whiskers to its snout.The following options become available, most of them offering a few different shapes, sizes, and color options:

Much like in Create A Sim, you can use your cursor to push and pull certain features of your dog’s face to edit them.

How To Customize Your Dog’s Personality In Create A Sim

Editing the personal details of your dog veryclosely resembles editing a human Sim, so you should find this quite easy! Select theplumbob in the upper-left cornerto generate the menu panel.

Name

First, let’s start with your doggy’s name. Will you go the classic route, like Scout, Spot, or Buddy? Or maybe you’ll get a little weirder with it… perhaps Muffin? Lord William Crumplebottom?

Whatever name you choose, go ahead and type it into the “First Name” text box next to the plumbob. You can give your doga last name as well, but this isn’t necessary.

Much like human Sims, youcan select custom pronouns for your dog.Select the dropdown menu labeled “Change Pronouns” to the right of your dog’s name and select the ones you like.

Age

Create A Sim offers six age groups to humans, called “life stages”, but Create A Pet offers dogs three distinct ages:

Sadly,your dog isn’t likely to live as long as your Sims since they’ll age much faster,so keep this in mind when choosing their life stage. Below, you can seehow many in-game days you can expect your dog to live in each life stage.

1

2

8

12

25

100

6

10

37

Gender

You can alter your dog’s genderby clicking the corresponding symbols in the upper left area,so if you aren’t sure what these icons mean, just hover over each one and they will each produce a label.

Below the gendered icons, you’ll see a three-dot menu. Despite its unassuming appearance, this is a very important button, soclick it todecide whether your cat is fixed or not.

Unrelated dogs of the opposite gender living in the same house are almost guaranteed to make puppies, which can be a big handful!

You can also choose toneuter or spay your dog at a veterinary cliniclater on in Live Mode.

Voice

Use the tools in Create A Pet to make your dog’s unique voice. There are five options for canine voices:

Once you’ve selected the voice type, use thesliding cursor to edit the pitchof your dog’s bark.

Traits

you may choose three unique traits for your furry friend. Like cats, there are17 dog traits that you can choose from, and your pup’s traits will really impact how they behave, so choose carefully!

One trait will be pre-selected based on the personality of the breed you chose, but you can change this if you want.

You can alsorandomize your dog’s traitsby selecting the button shaped like dice to the right of the Traits panel.

Relationships

If you plan to have more than one pet in your household, use theHousehold Relationships menuto decide what type of relationship they share:

Sadly, you can’t change relationships between human Sims and pets — they will all be considered owners.