Hm. First time making a tamer I was wondering if you professionals have any advice?
Be nice to your pets, remember to feed them when they're hungry and to keep them company when they are lonely :)
What kind of advice are you looking for?
first off have the following skills...Veterinary, Magery, Animal Lore, and taming obviously...also if ya wanna be able to kill monsters easier than normal get Provocation, Musicianship, Peacemaking
And look for the NPC which gives the Staff quest so you can become a druid and use the spells
Use peace-making or paralysis to keep them still whilst you tame them.
Buy some good taming jewelry.
Invest in vet skills
Stock up on lots of regs cause greater heal is a real help
Peacemaking is a godsend
Don't follow suit and be a druid, it takes the fun out of it ;)
Read around stratics and other UO websites to get tips for other individuals
Sometimes a pack of animals is better then 1 big animal - a pack of 5 savage ridgebacks causes a LOT of damage due to pack instinct
Use animal lore a lot and feed your pets their fave foods
Ridgebacks do not have pack instincts, are you thinking of Frenzy Ostards Valius ?
Yeah, thanks, that's what I meant. Couldn't remember the name and I took a guess heheh
my advice is when your out fighting lore the monsters you are fighting and try to create a journal of sorts of that their main attack is (resistance based) and what their weakest defence is (resistance based) and do the same for the pets you have now and in the future. that way along with what everyone else here as provided you can choose the bet pets to fight the particular monster you are fighting for the best results.
Of course you can always check http://www.uo.stractics.com before adventuring out to learn about the monsters you'll face in a particular place. As you'll see some pets do much better against certain monsters than they will against others. so get a stable stone for quick pet switches.
Your skill levels in taming, animal lore and vet will determine the maximum number of pets you can hold in your stable (14 is game max).
Everyone before me has offered good advice so that is all I'll add ( keeping some secrets to myself? hehe ).
good luck to you and enjoy.