No Shedding? No Problem. Get a Nintendog

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Those of you who follow my product reviews know that I find a lot of products to like, but only occasionally do I find one that I really get excited about. Nintendogs, a game where you adopt and care for a virtual dog, may just be my find of the year. From the moment you open the doors to the adoption agency and see the puppies romping around, it's obvious that Nintendogs has realistically captured endearing puppy movements and antics.

My Nintendogs game arrived just before I left for the airport, so I grabbed the tiny game cartridge and my DS device on my way out the door. Once settled on the plane, I decided to adopt a King Charles spaniel and named her Kate. I quickly became engrossed in the game and found myself talking to my dog, repeating her name over and over, and then teaching her to sit by repeating the command everytime she sat down. After a few minutes, my seat mate leaned over and said, "I can't stand it anymore. Just what are you doing?" I introduced her to my dog, and we spent the rest of the flight feeding, training, and bathing Kate.

Using the touch screen and built-in microphone on the handheld Nintendo DS (dual screen) gaming device, you can interact with your pet. To pet Kate, I simply moved the stylus across her body. An intuitive motion of the stylus threw the ball so we could play catch. To play with the bottle of bubbles, I just blew at the microphone and Kate romped across the screen trying to follow the bubbles. It was one of the most enjoyable flights I've ever taken.

The Nintendogs interface is easy to learn and you can progress at your own speed. You can simply have fun playing with your dog and taking him or her for walks, but the game gets really interesting once you start training your pet for agility trials and doggie competitions. At these events you can earn money to buy your pet toys and equipment. Even just walking your dog is interesting. You can take him to the park to practive fetching, to a gymnasium to train him, or to a second-hand store to trade doggy toys.

There are three different versions of the Nintendogs games, each with six different breeds of dogs. The version I played was called "Chihuahua and Friends," and the breeds I had to choose from were German shepherd, boxer, Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Yorkshire terrier, and Shetland sheepdog.You can own up to eight dogs at a time, and can play with up to three while the others are in a pet motel. As you get further and further into the game you find more and more functionality. You can even meet up with other Nintendo owners to trade items and unlock new breeds.

Like a real pet, your Nintendog does require some care. You will want to feed, pet, and exercise him for, if you don't, you may return to the game after a few days to find that your pet has run away (he will come back). The game makes even basic care easy, but if you don't want to take care of him for awhile, you can check him into the doggie motel.

If you try Nintendogs, I'm sure you will fall in love with the game as I did. My Katie sniffs around, pants, barks, runs and jumps just like a real dog, but I don't have to get out of bed on a rainy morning to take her outside. Finally, the perfect pet!