Gone to the dogs Walkthrough

Gone to the Dogs is an entertaining and unusually exciting sports strategy game that puts you in the role of dog trainer looking to break into the world of competitive dog racing by betting on races and training your own race dog. The challenge is to lead your dog to at least one championship and earn as many achievements as you can along the way. This isn't an easy task to accomplish, but it is far too much fun to pass up. In addition to the challenging and exciting aspects that come with training your dog to become a champion, you're treated to fun articles between races shown on newspapers. Take a few moments to read them. They're worth the momentary distraction. This is just one of the things that makes this game so different from the other sports strategy games online. This is more than just a game where you have to train your player (or dog in this case) to be the best.

The first thing you're asked to do in Gone to the Dogs is choose your dog. Choosing a dog is basically the same as choosing a player in any other sports strategy game. You have four dogs to choose from; Huckle Hound, Rocky Ballboa, Laskie and Cat Chaser. Each dog costs a different amount of money and has its own strengths and weaknesses so choose carefully. Don't just choose the cutest dog or the dog with the coolest name. Look at their stats. Laskie is a good well rounded dog, but he's also one of the more expensive ones. In my opinion, he's the best choice and well worth the money, but which dog you choose will be entirely up to you. Look at the dog's stats carefully as each one will impact your dog's performance in their races. Fitness is important - perhaps the most important - as it impacts all of the other stats. A fit dog is better behaved, has a faster reaction time and runs faster than a dog that isn't as fit. Speed and stamina go hand in hand as the overall quickness of your animal will depend on both of these factors. Speed is important on shorter races while stamina is important on longer races. In addition, if a course is wet, stamina will also come into play. Reactions determine how fast your dog is to react to various factors. Good reaction time is extremely important when getting the all important strong start in a race. Attitude is also important. It tells you how likely it is that your dog won't start a race because they're playing or not obeying. In the beginning, there is no dog that is particularly strong in any of these areas but training can increase these stats. Choose a dog that offers a little bit of everything and work on building up these stats with training.

Once you've chosen your dog in Gone to the Dogs, you are taken to your 'Week One' screen. All of your actions will begin on this screen. The top panel shows you a picture of your dog and offers your basic race stats. These stats will remain at zero until you do your first race. The bottom panel gives you the options you'll need to improve and strengthen your dog. The 'help' button is great if you're feeling a little confused about what all of the stats mean, but offers little guidance aside from that. Below 'help' you have your 'shop' button. You can visit the shop to purchase items for your dog with the money you have left over when you begin the game or the money you earn from races. How much money you have in total is shown at the bottom left of the screen. Many of the items in the shop can be used to improve your dog's stats or to help them perform better in races. Below 'shop' you have 'training'. This is the button you'll click to hire people to help train your dog. Choose a trainer that will focus on improving the stats your dog needs the most help in. On the left side of the panel, you'll see your dog's stats which will help you determine the best option for training. At the very bottom of the screen on the right side, you'll see the 'go to the races' button. Click this button when you feel your dog is ready to start racing. You'll be given a variety of races to choose from, but make sure you choose carefully. Look at the difficulty level and the distance. When you're just beginning with you're dog, it's a good idea to start with an easy race to see how your dog will perform. Prize money is somewhat important but should only be considered behind difficulty and distance for the first few races.

One of the best things about Gone to the Dogs is the ability to bet on dogs to earn more money. In this game, as in most sports strategy games, upgrades are vital to succeeded, but in order to buy them, you will need money. While you'll get money for every race you take part in, consider betting on the front runner to increase your chances of getting more money; even if that front runner isn't your dog. It might be a little shady, but if you really want your dog to win, you need upgrades and training. You have to get those stats as high as possible and do everything you can to make that happen. Although there are items you can purchase to give your dog an unfair advantage over his competitors, they're fairly unnecessary and won't even do you a lot of good if your dog isn't strong enough to place at least second without those illegal items. Those items are only applied to the expected front runner so while the dog is the odds on favorite to take the lead, you're not really doing yourself any favors if you don't think your dog can cross the finish line at least in second place. All you'll do is bump them up a notch. For example, if your dog is expected to come in third, a cheat will almost guarantee a second place finish. If you expect your dog to come in forth, they may get bumped up to a third place finish. Regardless, unless your dog has been coming in second consistently, those cheats aren't going to help you win the race.

If you're at all familiar with sports strategy games, or strategy games in general really, you likely already know the importance of choosing upgrades wisely. That's especially true in Gone to the Dogs. To learn more about the item you're considering purchasing, you simply need to click on it. All of the important information will open up in a box beside the item. Look at what stat the item improves (shown in green on the left side of the information box, below the picture of the item), how much it costs, how much money you have and whether or not your dog needs a boost in that area. Don't just buy an item because you have enough money for it. You want to make sure you have enough money to buy the important upgrades that will boost your dogs abilities in the areas they need the most help in. For example, if your dog needs to improve their speed stat, look for items such as dog clippers and the teflon suit that will boost your dog's speed. When looking at training, 'all around' training is a great idea if your dog needs overall improvement, but more specialized training is a better idea if they need help with speed, stamina or attitude specifically.

Overall, Gone to the Dogs is one of the most entertaining and engrossing sports strategy games online. It's a lot of fun to put your dog in races and watch for the result. Being able to place bets on the dogs in the race makes the game even more exciting; especially if you're betting on a dog other than your own. That way you get to root for two dogs instead of just one, doubling the fun! The best thing about this game is that, unlike other sports strategy games online, you don't really have to know anything about sports to enjoy it. As long as you have the basic understanding that your dog's stats dictate how well they will do in a race, you will be able to play this game and even do well. This is a game everyone can enjoy and everyone should try at least once.