Possible Fix for Stuck Animal Glitch

I received another email recently about a cat who became stuck in the wall in HM DS. This is an unfortunate situation that can occur randomly and when it does, it usually spells eternal imprisonment for the poor creature, like the cat in Edgar Allan Poe's famous tale.

While responding to the player, however, a possible 'fix' occurred to me. It only would be possible if you have not ordered all expansions from Gotz yet.

Whenever you order a house expansion from Gotz in HM DS or Cute DS, your Dog and Cat, if inside the house at the time, are at risk of being imprisoned in the new walls. I do not know WHY Gotz fails to notice them, but he sometimes is guilty of this oversight.

So my possible fix is: order ANOTHER House Expansion from Gotz. When the walls change again, your Cat or Dog MAY be freed from the unfortunate imprisonment. Note that I use the conditional word 'may' here. Even so, a possible fix is better than none, and I would be thrilled to hear from any player who tried this and succeeded in regaining his/her beloved Pet!

As previously stated, it only becomes an option if you did not order every expansion previously. Fortunately, there are many possible expansions in HM DS and Cute DS, including Bathroom, Restroom and three Basements...

Walkthrough for Perfect IoH Game

I continue to receive so many emails about Island of Happiness that I thought I should post this Walkthrough of mine for a 'perfect game' again:

Walkthrough for Perfect Game in IoH

I wrote this Walkthrough last year and it IS included in my General Guide for Island of Happiness, but evidently there are a large number of players who have not noted its existence.

If any one is having trouble with Taro and the Fishing Rod, or obtaining the Event with Mirabelle that allows you to obtain a Dog... or ANYTHING else in the first year of the game, please read this little Walkthrough.

The perfidious Wild Dog in Island of Happiness

Well, I have been forced to eat my words with respect to the Wild Dog in Island of Happiness. With only a stone pen but with my dog at 10 hearts, I had been able to leave my chickens outside overnight throughout the Summer season without one incident where any of them developed the telltale stress signs that indicate 'damage' from an attack. Now, however, to my dismay, I have experienced betrayal from my canine pet.

It was a sunny day yesterday and all my chickens sunned themselves in their pen throughout the day, falling asleep peacefully at night as usual...

I went fishing in order to keep my shipments of fish at a level that would keep all the Fishing characters on the Island, returning home only at 11.40 p.m.

There had been no barking to indicate the presence of the Wild Dog anywhere, but when I entered my field, I saw the creature slinking about silently near the Chicken Pen.

The Chickens continued to sleep peacefully... but then I found my DOG sleeping as well! He could not be roused to do his duty either. I picked him up, but as soon as I put him down, he fell asleep again, ignoring the continuing threat of the Wild Dog!

I equipped a tool but by now it was 1.00 a.m., the time when the Wild Dog leaves of his own accord. He departed as silently as he had appeared.

This morning, rather to my dismay, I found that three of my Chickens were stressed. How could my Dog betray me so, after all the Pet Food, petting and holding I did to bring him to 10 hearts!

So I guess you can't count on your Dog to keep the Wild Dog at bay, even if he has done so dozens of times in the past. I must add here that my Dog certainly has demonstrated the ability to go after the Wild Dog. On many occasions, he has sent him howling from the field... so what happened last night???

In many Harvest Moon games, a pen made of stones or branches is not sufficient to protect chickens or livestock. Perhaps Island of Happiness is the same. I simply didn't have the heart to rebuild the pen with better materials, as it takes so long to position each item on the ground in this game.

The other possibility is that the Dog is not fully trained until his title reaches that of Gold Medal Dog, which would occur when he has participated in three Dog Contests. (Apparently, an animal does not have to Win the Contest to gain a higher title. A Chicken who lost the first Chicken Contest nonetheless was given the title of Copper Medal Chicken. When she won the 2nd, she was given the title of Silver Medal Chicken. My Cow who won her first Contest was given the title of Copper Medal Cow, even though she won first prize. So the title depends on participation rather than winning, evidently.)

And it is all worth the effort...

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It is Monday night at 10.30 on the 19th of August in my first year in Forget-Me-Not Valley. My Pot was delivered this morning at 6.00 a.m. and I spent most of the morning making new dishes... among them all the Curries apart from those requiring White Grass, an herb that is available only in the Winter season. Unfortunately, Skye's Most Favourite gift happens to be 'Finest Curry', the one special curry that does contain White Grass. Even so, the other special curries do appeal to him greatly.

I lavished attention upon a very complicated dish known as the 'Ultimate Curry' and when it was completed, set it in a golden vessel. I barely could concentrate on my farm chores today as the Ultimate Curry was intended for Skye and I only can find him in the Valley at night.

I have made it a habit to 'drop in' casually at Vesta's farmhouse at 10.10 p.m. each night. I am pleasant to every one. I hope they cannot guess the real reason I have been making the visit. It enables me to switch my accessories from Teleport Stone to Love Bangle without wasting any time. I am able to place my gift for Skye in my hands as well, in preparation for each nightly encounter.

In the past, the best gifts I had for him were acceptable ones of jewelry or toiletries from the Excavation Site. Those gifts DID please him but his affection for me only increased at a slow rate.

Now tonight, my heart was pounding as I met him with Ultimate Curry in my hands. Oh beautiful moment! O moment of magic! What do you imagine his response to have been?

'What a wonderful woman you are!' Skye exclaimed. 'Thank you.'

Some may consider the difference between 500 points of AP and 300 points of AP to be fairly insignificant but for a woman in love, it means that I can win the heart of my beloved in almost half the time it would have taken previously. I may not be able to marry Skye before Winter in these circumstances, but I am confident that he will accept my Blue Feather, should I proffer it, before the Year's End.

Tomorrow, my house will be upgraded for the second time. Due to some unfortunate occurrences in the past (never experienced by me personally, thank God!), I feel it will be best if I place my cat and dog outside tonight. Gotz has been known in the past to wall up an unfortunate pet when performing the second house expansion! Ranchers who have experienced this terrible accident of fate either have been forced to live with the horrible view of their cat or dog struggling within the wall forever or never have seen the pet again at all. I don't know which is worse but I do know it is better to take the precaution perhaps of setting the two pets outside for a few hours.

My heart is singing as I walk home slowly, savouring Skye's response to my Ultimate Curry. Ultimate Curry is a lot of work to prepare and some of the steps can become rather tedious after awhile, but Skye is worth any effort.