Fetch the dogs balls bug

[Catman]

First there’s no dog. He scratches at hole but is invisible. Then I knocked all three balls in the hole but only two are counted.

[Man's Best Friend]

Same happened to me. Quit to the main menu and reloaded, he showed up. Apparently he was always supposed to be there too, as once he appeared he told me what I was supposed to do, and then immediately succeeded the objective.

[Ika]

Exact same problem, no dog, only two balls counted, then restarted the game, dog starts talking to me through the wall

[Steve]

Hello, you are not supposed to be able to access the dogs ball quest until after Tanuki teleports you to the doggo yard.
Are you accessing this area earlier in the game somehow?

[Man's Best Friend]

I definitely did it long before even meeting Tanuki. I went through the house while exploring other things. I can probably grab a video later. I'm getting my car serviced at the moment.

Right, so, here's a video of getting early access to the dog's yard. So early, that it's actually the first thing I do after gaining control of the kitty. I recorded the whole thing from start to finishing the quest, but if all you care about is the "how to get in" part, that's the first 30 seconds or so.

Also I'm pretty sure the first time I did it a different way, but this is just the first way I found this time. I'm like 90% sure it involved the balcony the first time, not the red box and wall.

https://youtu.be/eZpvjnANtGg

[Archelon Gaming]

I tried to do this one earlier too and the dog was invisible then appeared halfway phased through the ivy wall with his head popped out of it that was... well interestingly weird. Also got the last ball stuck in his dog house and couldn't get it lose after hitting it for 10 minutes straight so I gave up. Then later when the yard opened up and I hit it for 5 minutes and finally knocked it loose and got it out of there. I am a cat of course I will find a way to go where I am not supposed to! ᓚᘏᗢ … . . ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

[Steve]

In the latest build (updated last night) you should no longer be able to enter the dog yard early, and this should prevent all of the issues with the doggo yard.
This only applies to new save games though.
If you are still some how able to enter the dogs yard early, please let me know how!
Thanks

[Man's Best Friend]

That sounds like a challenge.
(I'm only half serious)

The taller hedges have certainly made it harder to get in.

[misc_scrub]

Hi - I also have the dog ball issue. I installed the game a few days ago. I was able to access the dog ball mission early by jumping from the house gate wall to the big hedged wall opposite. I placed 2 balls then. (By the way, the shiba inu wasn't there but I could still see his digging animation lol)
However, further drama because later on, I used the portal to return and found the 3rd ball and completed the mission.
So now that I need to return to that area, I no longer have the dialogue option to get in AND the hedge wall method no longer works. Kitty doesn't want to jump that high :(
When I looked at videos on YouTube, I can see that big brown gate isn't there. For me it's still closed.