How to Comfort Daily Pets

Dailies are a way to make money, obtain items, and heal your pets. However, dailies can also have negative affects. Disease, decrease of stats, and items getting stolen can really take a toll on you. But can you imagine how your pet must feel?

If you read my first article, How To Comfort Lab Ray Pets, you'll know that I try to help you find a perfect balance of keeping your pets happy while fulfilling your needs. I hope that this article can make you think about dailies in new ways and also help your pets!

Apple Bobbing

You look down at your small Blue Uni, watching her cower in fright as a ghost brushes past her. The Haunted Woods is eerily quiet, and the only sound is a fire crackling nearby and the crunching leaves beneath your feet. Suddenly, you see a small cart set up. A Gnorbu casually leans against his apple bobbing cart, fiddling with the edge of his hat. You walk over, and insist for your Uni to bob her head in. "Go for it," you whisper. After a struggle, she finally gives in and dunks her head into the cart. An apple suddenly pops out, hitting your small pet square in the forehead. What a surprise, she now has Blurred Vision.

A seemingly innocent event turns into a trip to the Neohospital. Sound like something that's happened to you? You're probably grumbling on about the cost of the medication, how mad you are at Bart, and maybe even your Uni. But can you imagine how she feels? She was the one who got hit in the head, she's the one who is staggering around blindly, she's the one who may have to miss school and other activities.

What NOT To Do:

1. Blame her. This is totally, 100% not her fault. She didn't choose for this to happen. In fact, she didn't even want to do this in the first place! This will only make her lose her trust in you.

2. Insist that tomorrow will be different. This may seem helpful and encouraging to you, but not for your pet. This will simply scare her more, and she won't want to leave the house again with you. But can you blame her? Would you want to go to a place anticipating that you'll get sick all over again?

3. Keep her as your active pet. Do you like going out and about when you're sick? I'm guessing not. So don't put your pet through that. Instead, go out with another pet and get medicine ASAP.

What To Do:

1. Insist that it was an accident. Don't go overboard on blaming Bart, and most certainly don't blame her. Just stress that it was a pure accident, and it's not likely to happen again. (But don't promise this, because there is a small chance that the very next day the same thing could happen!)

2. Tell her that she doesn't have to go back there again. This will take a load off of her shoulders and make her trust you more. Eventually, when you feel she's ready, you can take her back if she allows it.

3. Get medicine. Take her to the Healing Springs, but if that doesn't work, buy some medicine as soon as possible. Regardless of the cost, it's just not fair for your pet to suffer. That's cruel. If you must, you can even beg a friend to buy it for you. But remember, you'll owe them one!

The Qasalan Expellibox-

You and your Woodland Grundo stare up at the huge box looming in front of you, excitement in the air. If you land on a certain space, a great Neopoint or Neocash award awaits! Your Grundo proudly steps up to the machine and effortlessly deposits a scarab into one of the tubes. Before it can be sucked down, it scurries up and begins to attack your Neopet. Screaming, you call for the guards to help your poor pet. They rush over and unlatch the pest from your Grundo, but the damage has already been done. Your pet has lost some HP.

This is a costly loss, especially to battle pets or owners who have worked hard to bring those numbers up high. Although you'll be upset and think, "All my hard work down the drain!" your pet will be feeling much worse. After all, they're the one that was physically attacked and weakened.

What NOT To Do:

1. Blame it on your pet. It's easy to blame the poor Grundo-you can target them for not depositing the scarab right or being too clumsy. But this will only diminish their self esteem, and that's not fair to them.

2. Leave their HP down. It can be easy to make another pet active and ignore your Grundo's loss, hoping that eventually it'll rise again. Instead, buy an inexpensive potion or go to the Healing Springs. This will make your pet feel better and may even make them more willing to go the next day.

3. Not let them battle. Your Grundo was so anticipating a huge battle, but now that their HP is down, you won't allow them to fight. That's just not okay. Although it may seem like good pet ownership to you, this is not doing your pet any good. Sure, it'll be keeping them safe, but you could just as easily have them chug down a potion and be restored.

What To Do:

1. Follow up the guards on their claim that they have insurance. This will further show your pet that it isn't their fault, and you'll get sympathy. Although not many people follow this step, it's still nice to try.

2. Get their HP back up. Whether you take a trip to Faerieland and have your pet bathe in the Healing Springs or make them gulp down a liquid potion, it doesn't matter. What matters is raising your pets HP back up-and when you do this, their self esteem will sky rocket as well.

3. Let them go about their business. At the end of the day, all they did was lose a little HP. Sure, it's a big deal to some owners, but the beauty of it is that this can be easily cured. Don't treat them differently-make sure you let them know they'll be back to their usual great selves in no time!

The Deserted Tomb

The mystery, the magic, the possibilities of treasure! All of these concepts have led you and your Faerie Lupe to a small, isolated area of Mystery Island called Geraptiku. A huge, stone age tomb stands before you. With confidence and excitement, you lead your Lupe into the small, dark passageways. You hear your breath echoing off the walls which seem to be closing in on you. Suddenly, the tunnels give way to a large room, filled to the brim with traps. As you slowly slink around the edge of the room, your foot hits a rock, sending arrows shooting in your direction. Your Faerie Lupe throws herself in front of you as the arrows pierce her fur. She's lost major HP and is now in tons of pain. You help her limp out, no treasure in your hands.

This happens to many people, and they all leave whining on about how they wanted the treasure. Their pets follow behind them, wincing as their paws hit the ground. This just doesn't seem right to me. The Lupe had saved your life, and yet all you care about is treasure. Lovely. It seems to me you should be on Krawk Island instead.

What NOT To Do:

1. Complain about the lack of treasure. You shouldn't spend your time complaining, because you're seriously lucky to be walking out of that tomb. This will show your pet you're an ungrateful and selfish owner. And the sad part is; they might not jump in front of you next time.

2. Continue on with your dailies like nothing happened. Uh, hello? Something major just happened. Your pet is hurt. You should be rushing your Faerie Lupe to the Healing Springs or handing them a potion that restores their HP.

3. Talk about going back tomorrow. This will not sound appealing to your pet, and I doubt your Lupe will help you out if you get yourself into danger. It's best to wait for a while before putting them through that again. There are other ways to get treasure- go to Krawk Island, if that's what you're looking for.

What To Do:

1. Thank them again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again for saving you. And if you feel that's not enough, thank them again and again and again and again. And just to get your point across, say it again and again and again. Leave a note for them saying thank you again and again and again and again, and if you run out of paper, you can write on their walls again and again and again and again. I hope you see my point.

2. Get them help. To help express your gratitude, and if thanking them again and again and again is just not your style, show them you care by getting them some much needed help. The Healing Springs and potions, as usual, are the ways to go.

3. Tell them they don't have to go back-ever! If they do, for some strange reason, crave going back there, then good for them. But if they want to steer clear of the tomb for a while, ensure them that you support their decision.

Turmaculus

Your Magma Kau holds his little Angelpuss tightly. "Are you ready, Butters?" he asks quietly, placing her before the overweight petpet. Butters rubs her little paws together and then screams at the top of her lungs, causing a passing Red Ixi to shoot you a horrified glance. Turmaculus opens his droopy eyelids, growls from deep inside his throat, and then traps Butters between his jaws. After gobbling her up, he burps contentedly, closes his eyes, and goes back to sleep. The Magma Kau stares at the huge creature with a mixture of horror and sadness, then looks to you for support. "We got the avatar and a battledome challenger!" you squeal. But your Kau looks at you with anger in his eyes and turns away.

This event is slightly rare and is sought after by most owners. In fact, that's the reason why people go see Turmaculus; simply to have him gobble up the petpets! But you have no idea how painful this hurts. Imagine losing someone that you love. You'll be happily fawning over your shiny new avatar and prepping for a battledome fight, but is it really worth the depression and sadness that coarse through your little Kau's veins?

What NOT To Do:

1. Act excited about your new avatar and battledome challenger. Okay, I see why you could be happy. After all, avatar collectors are one step closer to completing their collection. But save the celebration for your friends, NOT your pet. They will get no joy whatsoever from the loss of their petpet giving you a gain. Please, please, don't make your pet feel worse than it already does. Show sympathy and sadness.

2. Rush out and buy them another petpet. There are a few things wrong with this idea. First off, they will not be eager to love a new petpet right after their other one has been eaten. Your Magma Kau will show anger and unhappiness towards the new petpet, and that isn't fair to the new petpet who has done nothing wrong. Also, your pet is still very scared, and may be overly clingy with their new pet. Depending on the petpet, if they're squeezed and clung to too much they could bite your Kau or scratch them. This isn't a good idea either. Just tell your pet that when they're ready, they will pick out a petpet of their choice. (But no Meepits, please!)

3. Go back the very next day with another one of your pets. This will frighten your little Magma Kau, showing them that once they get a petpet, you'll do the same to them!

What To Do:

1. Show lots of sympathy for your pet. Tell him (again and again and again!!) how sorry you are. Point out to your pet that it isn't his or Butters' fault that he got eaten; Turmaculus was simply in a grouchy mood. A great way to let your pet get their anger out is to have them battle Turmaculus in the battledome!

2. Tell them that, when they're ready, you'll let them pick out a new petpet. You need to stress to your Magma Kau that nobody can ever, ever, ever replace Butters, but that they can still get another pet to play with so that they don't get lonely. It's not unusual for your pet to state that they never ever want to get another petpet. They usually don't mean this. Help them through this tough time, and maybe even set up some play dates with other pets and their petpets.

3. Promise them they never have to go back. Your pet will probably never want to go back. If you try to force your Kau to go to Turmaculus with his new petpet, chances are he'll loath you for the rest of his existence.

So now you have a new opinion on dailies, and hopefully this has opened your eyes on how these simple, everyday things affect your pet.

The simple answer is not to do dailies. But I don't feel that this is necessary. Instead, just be prepared on how to handle your pets when something goes wrong. That way, you'll gain trust from your pets for the future.

Thanks for reading, and as usual, Neomail me any questions or comments you may have!! :)