Doggie Dash Strategy: --------- As pets come in the store they will ask to be taken to certain stations in order to get a variety of services done. Those services have to be done in the order in which they are listed. You can click on several actions in a row to get the job done faster. The faster you are the more money you will earn. Each level is different so what works in one may not work in another. In some instances it is best to take care of animals as they come in, especially in the levels in which you were not able to buy any upgrades. That would usually happen on the first level of a new shop. At times it is best to wait and let a few animals come in before you decide which ones to take first. In levels in which the Poodles appear take them ahead of everybody else. In levels in which you do not have your partners working with you, do not buy the Playpen Stations since it is one more thing for you to do in those rounds. In theory having three stations is better than two but not in this case. It is not a good idea because when you buy 3 stations of one kind you will lose too many opportunities to make bonuses. When you buy additional stations designate them in a way that will be easiest for you to place the animals in the same spot all the time. We always designated one station throughout the whole game to one animal. The first station would always be for cats and the second one for dogs. We never deviated from this formula since it made it really easy to remember where each animal went. There are a variety of ways to earn bonuses in this game that will help up your score. You can earn a Bonus Flag when you place the same type of animal on the same station several times in a row. Flags that have larger amounts next to them earn larger bonuses. If a pet has 5 full hearts at check-out you will earn a Full Heart Bonus. To get a last minute Full Heart Bonus give a pet a treat as they are on the last station to boost their heart. . Animals will ask to go to the Playpen Station when they have 5 full hearts, which will earn you extra money. You can also earn flag bonuses when you place the same type of animal in the same Playpen each time. This is why it's good to always purchase 2 Playpens at the same time. If you don't, you will minimize the amount of swap and flag bonuses you can earn. Turning on the jukebox at just the right time can give several pets a heart boost in one shot. Turn it on when you have the most pets on several stations and the jukebox will give each pet on the floor 2 additional hearts. The jukebox can be turned on even if you have an animal in your hand. It needs to recharge after each use, keep an eye out for when it's ready so you can use it often. Swapping bonuses are made when you take an animal and swap it with another animal of the same kind. The swap can be performed at any station and it can allow you to rack up major points in a level. In levels in which you only have one type of animal coming in is a great way to make huge swapping, flag and full heart bonuses. In some levels you will only have either all cats or all dogs coming in. Always remember to keep them in one station only at all times in order to achieve a high score. It can be done; you just have to prioritize which ones to take first and which ones to leave in line. There are 5 locations in the game and with every new shop you will have to start from scratch with decorations and upgrades. Always try to have 2 stations of each kind as soon as they become available. Save your money and upgrade all your stations at the same time, that way they are all operating at the same speed. You do not want one station running faster than others if you can help it. There are many ways to beat the game and a lot of upgrades that will help you do so. Just because a lot of upgrades are offered does not mean that you have to use or buy them all. If you want to keep your bonuses going we do not recommend buying a third station, two is the best number to have. We only bought the massage table once because it was too easy to forget that the pets were there and we would eventually lose them. Go to the podium often - especially right before you take a customer to the floor. If you leave the podium before it is fully activated it will not boost hearts. You will have to wait for it to recharge before you can use it again. While you're on the podium take that opportunity and look around the room for your next move. It will give you time to look around the room and see who should go next. On certain levels your partner will be out sick and you will have to do extra work. In those instances you are going to be responsible for taking all the pets to the exit counter. In these levels it can be hard to remember to go to the exit counter. Make a conscious effort to remember or you will lose a lot of points and pets. Even though you can have the fastest machines it does not mean that all dogs go through them at the same speed. You will notice that some animals take longer than others. Each animal has different speeds in which they go through services and how long they are willing to wait in line. In order to play the best game possible look at the help section in the game and learn what each pet looks like and what their temperament is. It will help you in prioritizing which animals to pick up first. The Poodles and the Siamese cats are the most impatient animals of all. However, they are fast when they are at stations so they will not take too much time while there. Placing slow animals ahead of them may cause the Siamese cats and the Poodles to get angry and leave. Some dogs are noisy and they bother some of the other pets around them causing them to lose patience faster than normal. Try not to leave noisy dogs at one station too long. Dogs that are noisy are the Shih Tzus and the Yorkshire Terriers. The Persian cat and the Dachshund dog have the most patience in line of all the animals but they take a very long time at stations. It is best to leave them in line as long as possible and take care of others ahead of them. Give them a treat while in line or stand at the podium to give them a heart boost. It is important not to leave certain animals waiting for too long. If you let them lose too much patience they will get angry and leave. Every time a pet leaves your shop it can cost between $100 - $500, which greatly affects your score. The higher you go on levels the more it costs you when each pet leaves. You can restart a level because you either failed a level or you just want to try for a higher score. If you think you know where you went wrong you should change your upgrades. If you think your workers were too slow you can upgrade the speed of your partners. If too many pets were leaving because they were impatient you should consider buying a jukebox, a podium or some treats. At times it can be confusing as to which type of animal you are picking up. Some dogs have long hair and they could easily be confused with a cat. There are two things you can do so that you do not mix them up. One, you can look at the help section and familiarize yourself with the different breeds. Two, if you're playing with the sound on, each pet you pick up will either bark or meow. You should buy treats for your pets as soon as they become available; they are inexpensive so buy them early on. Treats can be given to pets while they wait in line or at any station. If you try and give a treat to a pet and they leave before you get there, the treat will be there for the next pet that arrives at that station. If you have 2 cats left that are going to the same station, one needs a cut and a ribbon and the other one just needs a ribbon. Choose the one that needs both services first so you can make a swap bonus once the first one is done. If you're feeling overwhelmed pause the game and you can still see a large part of the screen. You will be able to make a better assessment of what your next move should be. You can drop a pet at a station that is not theirs and let them wait there until you're ready to get them. At times you will pick up a pet by accident, you can take them to a station that they did not request for a very short period of time. Doing so will not mess up your flag bonuses as long as it is a station that they did not request. TIPS FOR ASSORTED LEVELS 2-3 The poodle is introduced in this level. Take care of it above any other pets that come into the shop. 3-2 Even though the third station is available do not buy it because it will break up your flag and swap bonuses. 3-4 In this level you will have to take pets to the exit station yourself. If you forget to take them the pets will get angry and leave. As soon as you see the arrow icon, remember to take the pets out. 3-8 You will only have cats in this level. Keep all cats on one station, swap cats as much as possible. Leave the Persian cats for last, they have patience and they will wait but they hold everybody else up since they take too long at service stations. 4-6 There are more cats than dogs in this level. Upgrade whichever station you are assigning the cats to first. Whatever money you have left designate to your other upgrades. Upgrade your helpers to give them more speed. 4-7 Buy the jukebox since it increases the hearts of the pets in the shop. Play the jukebox and get on the podium as much as you can. Keep the flag bonuses going. 4-8 Labrador retrievers are introduced in this level. We upgraded all our stations at once to make sure that they were all running at the same speed. We also bought the X-Power energy drink. You will only get dogs in this level. Make sure that you send all the dogs to same station all the time. For example, designate only the left station of each service for the dogs to go to. Take the pets with the lowest hearts first since they will be low in patience. Go to the podium and jukebox often. 5-1 We ignored the third washing station and we never upgraded to a third machine on the other stations The Megaphone is introduced. Losing any animal in this shop will cost you $500 each. In this level you are not able to buy any upgrades so the only way to keep the pets happy is to take them in the order they come in. DO NOT use the third wash station because it will throw off your swap and flag bonuses. Be careful not to confuse the Shih Tzu with a cat. If you're not sure what they look like go to the help menu and familiarize yourself with each breed of animal and their temperament. You can also tell the animals by the sounds they make when you pick them up. 5-2 We purchased the megaphone for $3200 since it encouraged workers to go faster. The only other upgrade we purchased was the "waiting room decor" for $750 so customers could be more patient while waiting in line. Ignore the third wash station, do not use it. Pick up the poodle as soon as you see it since it has low patience and will leave quickly. Use the megaphone when the floor is at it's fullest. You should be able to get full heart bonuses by taking care of customers quickly. 5-3 The Yorkshire Terrier is introduced in this level. It has medium patience, fast service and is noisy (which makes certain pets around it lose patience faster) In this level we purchased the stage, dog treats and upgraded both workers. Take the poodles as soon as they come in. Sometimes you will have to take them back to back since several come in at one time. Go to the podium when everyone is busy working so you can boost some hearts before you take them to the floor. Give treats to the dogs that have low patience. It will help you get full heart bonuses as well. Leave the Persian cats for last since they have high patience. The Siamese cats are very impatient take them first, feed them treats. 5-4 In this level your partner is not able to work with you. It is very important that you remember that you have to take the animals to the exit counter yourself. Your cue for doing this is whenever you see arrow icon, you'll know it's time yo take the pet to the exit counter. We upgraded both wash stations, both grooming stations and one of the accessories station. Go to the podium often, especially before you pick up an animal from the counter. This will add an extra heart or two to each animal. 5-5 We purchased the jukebox and upgraded the last accessory station that we did not do on the previous level. All your stations at this point should be running at the same speed. The Manx cat is introduced in this level, it has medium patience and medium service speed. To get a full heart bonus give a pet a treat while they are in the last station. There are many pets that will come in and will not need a bath they will need other services. Take them there as soon as possible in order not to hold the line up. Turn on the jukebox while you have the most pets on the floor at one time. 5-6 We purchased 2 Playpen Stations in order to earn extra money. We did not buy anything else because we wanted to upgrade all of our stations on the next level. There are a lot of Persian cats in this level, leave them at the counter as long as possible by making frequent visits to the podium. Keep an eye on the Siamese cats, if you leave them waiting too long they get impatient and leave. Keep giving the Poodles and the Siamese cats treats if they are about to lose patience. 5-7 We upgraded the 2 wash stations, the 2 grooming stations and one accessory station. As you're standing at the podium look around for what your next move should be. Give priority to tasks that will give you swap bonuses. If you're feeling overwhelmed pause the game and you can still see a large part of the screen. You can make a better assessment of what your next move should be. Look to see who has the lowest hearts and decide who needs to be next. Use the jukebox and the podium often. See if anyone needs to go into the Playpen Station; doing do will earn you extra points. 5-8 There's no partner in this level, so do not forget to take the pets to the exit counter. Upgrade your last accessory station. Upgrade both workers and they should now be upgraded to the fullest. Buy a massage station. Try to take several pets to the exit station at one time by swapping with as many pets at once. If a pet is at the counter waiting to go to the accessory station, take it there before you remove a pet from that station. You can get a full heart bonus even if the pets do not go to the Playpen Station. If a pet is in the accessories station and they have four hearts give them a treat or turn on the jukebox to give them a last minute boost. 5-9 We purchased the X-Power Energy Drink for this level. You have to move fast in this level, get as many pets as you can from the counter as they arrive. Poodles and Siamese cats have to be taken care of above anyone else. Go to the podium often and turn on the jukebox. You can earn a lot of extra points in this level if you keep the pets happy since they will request to go to the Playpen Station often. 5-10 This is the last level in the game. We did not purchase any upgrades for this level. In the first half of the game you will get a lot of dogs at one time. The second half of this level will feature mostly cats. Keep those flag and swap bonuses going. Move as fast as you can and take care of impatient pets first. Tips: ----- - On one board on every level, your partner calls in sick and you have to do his/her job too. Just remember to keep an eye out for the "arrow" symbol that signifies that the pet is ready to be returned to its owner. If you forget, they'll leave and you'll lose $$!! NOTE: As soon as you know you'll be flying solo that day, make sure your character is upgraded and that you get the massage station. Both of these really help out! - On Random levels, Flo (of Diner Dash fame) will swing by with her pet "Sprinkles" (I think that's his name). "Sprinkles" is very patient and he automatically adds 1 heart to every pet that he's near! Try to keep him around for as long as possible! - Unlike Paradise Pet Salon, you can only handle ONE pet at a time!! - The Treat Station, Energy Drink Station, Jukebox, Stage and Megaphone DO NOT work at the beginnings of each level!! They need to "warm up" or something. You will know when one of these bonuses is ready to use when it glows yellow. NOTE: These stations also need time to rejuvenate in between uses so choose when to use them wisely!! (For example: I can usually use the energy drinks twice during a level if I'm lucky.) - Level 4 automatically gives you three wash stations. I upgraded only two of them and left the third one for either the very patient animals or very IMpatient animals (depending on how busy I was). - When you get an "Expert" score on any level, you unlock an extra décor choice for your shop. I'm not sure if the different decoration choices have different affects on game play but you can switch them out at no additional charge any time you want. - I've noticed that if you drink an energy drink and then do something like get on the stage, the energy drink affect seems to pause so you can still zip around once you are done performing... but, it doesn't make you perform on stage any faster.