Walking dog takes too long [ Edited ]

[imalumberjack37]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:Mac
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.77.146.1230
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All of them
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Add a dog in your household. Direct sim to take dog for a walk.
What happens when the bug occurs? The length of in game time it takes to walk a dog has been consistently long since Pets was installed and across multiple households and save files. Completing the go for a walk interaction takes too much time in game. A short walk takes 4+ game hours to complete. When selecting a long walk, the sim and dog will walk around for 10+ hours before they are prompted to return home, which could take another few hours. Go for a jog seems to take the same amount of game time as going for a jog without a dog. If the player directs the sim to interact with the dog or an automated interaction with the dog comes up during the walk, the sim will stop like they normally do periodically on a walk and stay there indefinitely with the new interaction in the queue and the walking dog interaction active with the dog leashed. This can only be fixed by cancelling the walk interaction.
What do you expect to see? The go for a walk interaction should take much less game time, perhaps 1 hour for a short walk and 4 for a long walk. If you direct the sim to interact with the dog while on a walk, they should stop to complete it, and then continue on the walk. If it is an automated interaction, it should do the same, or, depending on relevancy to the walk interaction (ex: ask to go potty), wait until the walk has been completed to take place.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. Installed Pets Expansion pack where this interaction was introduced to the game.

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This may be intended, but the go for a walk interaction with dogs takes much too long in game time.  Even the short walk option takes 4+ hours.  I would expect it to take maybe 1 hour and the long walk to take 4.  I have yet to test the long walk option to see how many in game hours it takes to complete, but it is not realistic to spend possibly an entire day walking your dog.

Do other players experience the go for a walk interaction taking this long?

Update!

I tested the long walk option.  My sim walked the dog for 10 hours and only stopped when she passed out from exhaustion.

I cheated both the sim and the dog's needs and tried again.  "Return Home" popped up after 10 hours of walking and it would have taken probably another two hours to get back to their home lot.  It took several attempts to get to this point because sometimes she would stop to tell her dog a story and get stuck standing there with the dog leashed.  I would have to cancel the walk interaction and start it again.

[imalumberjack37]

Update!

I tested the long walk option.  My sim walked the dog for 10 hours and only stopped when she passed out from exhaustion.

I cheated both the sim and the dog's needs and tried again.  "Return Home" popped up after 10 hours of walking and it would have taken probably another two hours to get back to their home lot.  It took several attempts to get to this point because sometimes she would stop to tell her dog a story and get stuck standing there with the dog leashed.  I would have to cancel the walk interaction and start it again.

[crinrict]

@imalumberjack37 Could you please edit your post and fill out the bug form ? Seems you weren't prompted for it.

Editing should help with that.

Do they actually walk for that long or just get stuck ?

[rlc77]

I agree that the dog walks are way too long.  This is actual walking and not getting stuck.  I have noticed that if you try to interact with the dog while on a walk they get stuck.  They don't do the interaction and they stop walking until you cancel the walk.

[imalumberjack37]

@crinrict The bug form showed up when I edited the initial post and I filled it out.

The sim and dog are actually walking around the neighborhood for the entire interaction.  They only get stuck if you direct the sim to interact with the dog or an automated interaction shows up in the queue, at which point the sim will get stuck standing there with the dog leashed without completing the walk or the new interaction.  If this bug does not interrupt the walk, the sim and dog will walk around the neighborhood for 4+ hours for a short walk and 10+ hours for a long walk.  I have not yet timed a medium walk. 

The jog option seems to take the same amount of time as going for a jog without a dog, however if the sim's hygiene need becomes too low, the sim will stop the interaction, change out of their athletic outfit into their everyday outfit (just like when this happens during the normal jog interaction) and return home without the dog.  The dog will return home eventually if not prompted to come here by a sim on the home lot.

[crinrict]

@imalumberjack37 I don't really pay attention on how long it takes but did it used to be shorter ? Was this something that changed for you ?

[rlc77]

In my experience the walks have always been too long but it can depend on the world you live in.  I have sims on the Windenburg island and they will wall their dog all over the ilsand back and forth all day long.

[goofylittlerhino]

Yay!  Crinrict!!

Now, to the issue at hand:

I noticed this.  One of my guys seemed to be walking the dog forever and ever and I cut it short and simply sent them home.  Has happened twice.  Just throwing this in there as a "me too," and I will be sure to tick that box on the original post.

[imalumberjack37]

@crinrict Yes the walks have been consistently long since installing Pets (2019 for me), but I never thought to time them and report it until now.  Whenever I have a dog in the household, I try to avoid using the go for a walk interaction because it has always taken so long, and if I do use it, I only use the jog or short walk options.

For reference, the household I tested with is living on the Cordelia's Secret Cottage lot in the Bramblewood neighborhood of Henford-on-Bagley, which does take a long time to navigate to.  My guess is that the only difference in the number of game hours it takes to complete a walk between this lot and others in different neighborhoods/worlds is how long it takes to actually return to the lot once the "Return Home" task pops up, which does not happen until after 10 hours of actively walking the dog for long walks.

If you would like, I can test in a few different neighborhoods/worlds and time each of the walk interactions.

[crinrict]

@imalumberjack37 Thanks. I don't think it's needed to test other hoods.

It's probably borderline feedback if it's always been this way but if enough people chime in, they might consider tuning it.