How we treat our pets

[kamoodle5]

I dislike hunters that just go out and tame the highest level version of whatever beast family is OP at the moment, not taming, for a current example, which wolf skin they like and level that up. I've gotten so many hunter apps with a Cavedweller Worg as their only pet.

Give me the cute barking wolf any day. As much as I tried to not tempt myself to get a wolf cuz everyone has them for raids (don't get me wrong, I love them), I wanted to try this little guy with my alliance hunter and I LOVE him. He barks then snarls with happiness when I give him food. Since I had to travel far and long from Azuremyst to Mulgore by foot (died only once), it was well worth the trip. I just had to name the cute guy Calamity. You can bet where that came from.

[Otterpops]

I fully acknowledge a pet is just a weapon and only pixels... but I adore mine so much! I don't RP but still to me they are friend/partner to my character ;D when I see another hunter whose pet is low on health in bgs I bandage them up. When I'm playing my druid I will heal pets and buff them just like I do the other players.

I like fun names but don't understand people who name their animals gross names like firecrotch or stds i guess it's just not what I do.

I also feel guilt when I FD and have to watch my pet fight until it gets killed

[Evandelle]

I LOVE all my pets, if I don't I don't keep them...They always have names. I think they all at least deserve that..I've done things, I've heard ya'll do on here already...i.e. emoting to them where I won't just do /hug /kiss /cuddle, I'll do things like /e scratches (pet)'s head. PetEmote makes them seem real, so I treat them like that. I hate when people name their pets vulgar things...I actually report them most of them time if they are really bad, in hopes that a GM will reset it, so they have to rename it.

Another thing I've done, that I noticed someone on this forum above me said, was I talked in say to a pet before I let it go. I remember when my main hunter, Evandelle, got rid of her Araga(Kisa) I about cried, and I typed into say that I would love her, always, and that I would come back for her someday, but I know she'll be safe in the mountains. I cast one of those light things on her, that you get around the Lunar Festival, I /waved /hugged /kiss /goodbyed her and then she was gone...I've only done that for my Kisa, but hey..I'm on a RP realm. I fully plan on going back for her after the 20 stable slots come out in Cata.

As one more note: I got mad once when I was doing a random pug with my horde hunter, Eribess, who's main pet is a plagued wolf named, Rottie, anyway, I was thrown into a group, who actually started to degrade Rottie! Calling him ugly and all sorts of other nasty things...I got so upset, that I quit the group, I didn't care that I would have to wait a half an hour to get into another one.

[kamoodle5]

Good! You don't deserve your pet to be insulted like that just because he's a diseased wolf. I'd be better off players insulting me than my pets any day, no matter the consequence.

[Theruzan]

As one more note: I got mad once when I was doing a random pug with my horde hunter, Eribess, who's main pet is a plagued wolf named, Rottie, anyway, I was thrown into a group, who actually started to degrade Rottie! Calling him ugly and all sorts of other nasty things...I got so upset, that I quit the group, I didn't care that I would have to wait a half an hour to get into another one.

I had a diseased wolf named Malum once (it means 'misfortune') and I never got that crap D: I love the zombie wolves, those people are..... strange.

--On another note, I often get attached to my pets, too. Sometimes I use them for bait or sacrifice them to grab a quest item from a mob I know I can't beat (Used an old wolf, Rule, to do that once...) but I usually give them a /cry and a /hug when I rez them. I know I'm weird, but I could care less what other players think.

I always give pets good names, never rude or such. Sometimes they're cool or just silly or cute, depending on the pet. I tend to perceive my pets' "personalities" depending on the way they look or where I got them. For example, my wind serpent, Cyanide, is imagined by me to be a sort of.... well..... badass sociopath, if you will XD <---- Cyanide...

And I think someone before me mentioned giving their pets treats. I do that too. In the game I picture Firefin Snapper as being spicy and Cy loving them, often tossing her one after I end up killing us both DX

[Siliverin]

i love my pets to death i always put serious thoguht into there names once in a while i like to have one with a silly name but i love em to death, if i see they are dyign and mend pet isnt helping i call them back put them on passive and mend pet till they are fully healed and send em back. i hate seeing them die

[Aquillian]

I'm always micro managing my pet... throwing cower and mend pet on if it takes damage, calling it out of dangerous things, keeping it with me for mobs that fear... though I suppose that's a mixture of hating seeing my pets taking damage and also wanting to be a good hunter ^^; I admit sometimes new ones don't get named for a while. It has nothing to do with not caring though! I just refuse to name them until I've got the perfect name for them. My roommate is the same way... I imagine it makes it seem as though he doesn't care, because it often takes him weeks to pick a name, but that's not at all what it means. Heh. It's kinda funny though, my parents have a cat they named Kitten (IRL I mean)... sometimes basic names aren't a sign of not caring; they spoil Kitten rotten XD

Having said all that, it drives me nuts when I see people who come into dungeons with no pet. o_O Why even roll a hunter? Not only is that saddening because I just like seeing what pets people have but it's a pretty rude thing to do in terms of grouping with people. A pet is part if your DPS, if you don't like that you should reroll imo... a dual-wield class that comes with no offhand weapon to the group is just as bad to me.

When I'm on my druid I bres people's pets (or taunt off them if I'm tanking and they've snagged a caster I missed) XD They're always surprised or amused when the pet goes down then flies back up. I also keep them healed and res them at the end of the fight if bres wasn't up... plus I throw buffs on them if they missed the first round of buffs. Nobody dies on my watch, especially not cute little pets!

[Cerah]

I love my pets! I always have food for them in my bags, even if I forget food for myself, and pet treats. I find myself farming mammoths just to make them their Mammoth Bites.

I have backstories made up for each and every one fo my pets, and I've only released one after pernamently taming it-- my red Windserpent, Bloodshock, because I just couldn't resist getting Numeroc. Even then, I just *had* to make up a story justifiying Bloodshock's departure. He was an old windserpent who had once been Cerah's father, Trakk's, pet. After Trakk's death at the hands of the Evil Night Elves, Bloodshock flew off into the Barrens. Cerah found him, or rather, he found Cerah, years later. Alas, the time eventually came for Bloodshock to join his old partner in the Earthmother's embrace. When he passed, Cerah decided to honour his memory by taming the most badass Cunning Pet she could find, the rare purple Chimera.

I only had one "temp pet" as well. When I was hunting for Ironhide, my devilsaur, I picked up a hyena in Taranis, which I named Shenzi. (storywise, she ran away when Ironhide roared at her) I fully intend on retaming her once Cataclysm hits and we get 20 extra stable slots!

Anyway, yeah, I love my pets. I don't care if they are technically only pixels on a screen -- so are any of our characters. I already have a list of pets, not even including the new familes yet -- that I want to add to Cerah's happy little family. I can't wait!

[Quin]

I love my pets. They're very much a part of my character. Each of them has their own personality in my head, and they each have a story about how they ended up with my Hunter. I give them their Mammoth treats and even feed them, even though between Mend Pet and their talents, I usually don't have to.

I hate when they die.

When I'm changing a pet out (and don't have a stable slot), I take them some place nice for them, either their original home or a similar area, and set them 'free'.

All of mine have names, even if it takes a few days. I like to have just the right name for them.

[Skyshot]

I like to think I treat mine quiet nicely. I will admit my pets have jumped off some crazy-high ledges now and then just to run around and explore. Thankfully they don't take fall damage anymore. xD Other then that, I have yet to give any pet a 'lazy' name and keep them as safe-and-sound as I possibly can. My biggest peeve is seeing un-named pets and pets with lazy and/or really boring names. For example a Skoll ran past me in Dal the other day named named "MyChair" (though I will admit I chuckled a little). Later on I saw "Wolf"... the white wolf. =(

[Kittykat]

I guess it's becoming clear to me that I fit in here. LOL

My first toon was a hunter, though my main is a paladin.

My first pet ever was a durotar tiger named powderpuff. We had loads of adventures together, and then one day in the barrens, I saw my first ever windserpent. I had never seen anything like that in any other game. I had to tame one! Powderpuff went to stay in the stables, and I got Minual to come with me. Well, my hubby had RAF levels, and he granted me from 30-ish right on up to 60. This was before pets leveled with you. Guess how well a level 30 windserpent does in Outlands? Yeah... I cleared out my stables in frustration, sadly saying goodbye to my now-useless low level pets.

I resisted getting a "Flavor of the Month" ravager as long as I could, but for a while Osnap (as in Oh Snap! You better run!) was a great help.

Eventually, I found myself in a rut with my hunter, I wasn't enjoying it anymore. I put her on the shelf for a while and focused on my main. Then I saw the Spirit Beast for the first time. I knew I had to have one. I tamed a Devilsaur, leveled my hunter to 77, and made a macro. I lucked out SO very much, and found Loque on my first trip around sholazar. My hands shook as I tamed the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.

I spent time carefully considering a name that captured how I felt about this new friend. Ultimately I settled on Zephyr, and it's perfect for her. I die a little inside every time i see a spirit beat named "Imwithstupid" or "Segzybiotch" or similar.

My blood elf hunter has a name based on the Sci-Fi TV show Doctor Who, and when I saw the spirit bear it came to me: I have to tame one, and his name is OodSong (also from Doctor Who).

Hopefully I will have him before the next week if I get lucky with spawn timers!