[Miros1]

The most annoying "feature" is the huge number of strays that Maxis thinks appropriate. You will want to use the Pets part of my "No Ugly Townies" tutorial to get rid of the strays (but leave the adoptables) before you inflict Pets on an existing 'hood. Otherwise you end up with puddles of pee all over your yard, followed by a weed infestation.

In addition, you'll want TwoJeffs' Visitor Controller (to keep the neighbor's pets home unless your pet needs company and keep the wolves away) and some sort of stray regeneration preventer. I think Inge has a No Stray sign, but they pee or dig on the edge of the lot before they leave, just like Sims 1, so I prefer TJ's hack. If you can't find the regeneration preventer, the number of strays is much, much lower and your Sim might accidentally develop enough of a relationship with one to adopt it.

The Pet Control officer is much less annoying than the Social Worker, and only comes under conditions that are similar to true pet abuse. You can still adopt pets after some have been taken away.

The scratching is slightly annoying -- but if you don't update your custom items for Pets, older custom content is safe from being scratched to bits! A hack that prevents scratching objects in use would be a good idea too. I've heard horror stories about pets scratching the baby crib while the baby was in it...

You will need one bathtub that you can bathe the dogs in, or a water wiggler (from an OFB toy making bench) so they can clean themselves. Toddlers don't care if the dog has BO, but everyone else in the family does! Also, the pet doesn't care if the toddler has a dirty diaper.

It really doesn't take that much "training" to teach your pets to be socially acceptable. Just praise them for eating their own food, sleeping on their own bed, chewing their chew toys, peeing outdoors or in the litter box, etc. and they will quickly learn to behave the way you want. There's even a little arrow that pops up on their icon in the family bar to tell you when they've done something "praiseworthy" or "scoldable."

I rarely have to scold pets from the adoption service. Only pets that have been deliberately trained to sleep on the human furniture or eat human food should need to be scolded. Don't play the Kat family or Danny and Sarah Critter unless you want to put a plate of food on the floor to get the mistrained pets to eat before they starve. Follow this with a scolding they won't forget! Once you've "broken" the training, they'll start eating their own food when hungry, and you can just praise them from time to time. I also believe you need to scold those pets to make them scratch their scratching posts instead of the furniture.

In terms of peeing outside... Unfortunately, right outside the door or by the mailbox is "outside" to the pet, so you end up with puddles in undesirable locations. I think there's a fire hydrant they'll do their business on, which is more attractive to the pet than the "used before" marker the game leaves after you mop up the mess.

There are hacks that can get rid of the "used before" marker, as well as anything else on that square, so use it carefully!

Sims do seem to get obsessed with their pets (get puppy, get kitten, get puppy or kitten, get pet, get birdcage, get womrat cage, get job for pet, play with pet, train pet, pet gets promotion, etc.) There are hacks to reduce that too.

The wolves can spread werewolf disease, so don't pet any large dogs with glowing eyes! Wolves are attracted by trees and babies, but I'm usually keeping an eye on the baby and don't see the wolf.

You need a collar for your dog or cat, which must be bought at a pet shop. If your pet gets unhappy enough to run away (without starving or other conditions that would trigger a visit from Animal Control), you can call the Police and have a good chance of getting the animal back.

Pets do have life insurance and gravestones. They can be brought back from the dead with the Grim Reaper phone.

Did I forget anything important?

P.S. The penguin is even neater than Claire the Bear from Sims 1! He'll come right in the house and wave at your fishing trophies!