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        NINTENDOGS: MINIATURE DACHSHUND(/CHIHUAHUA/SHIBA) & FRIENDS
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FAQ version 1.29

Copyright: 2005 Tomas Engstrom
Author: Tomas Engstrom a.k.a ConraDargo
Date: April 25th 2005

Special thanks:	xcomp
		Johan Haggblad
		Titney
		Aaron (and gf)
		The people at GameFAQs and SweJap - you	know who you are!

Should you have any questions, suggestions or just feel like chatting -
email me at [email protected]

THIS FAQ CONTAINS JAPANESE LETTERS! READ THE Q&A TO LEARN MORE!

I recommend using a webbrowser for reading this FAQ or all the Japanese
letters will look pretty tiny (should you use Notepad).


================================================

                 CHAPTER INDEX

------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome - to my second FAQ
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2. Pick a Puppy
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3. Interface
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4. Status
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5. Inventory
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6. Going out
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7. Your neighbourhood
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8. Tricks
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9. Competitions
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10. System Options
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11. Q&A
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12. Updates (FAQ)
================================================


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1: WELCOME - TO MY SECOND FAQ
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I welcome you all to my second FAQ (or in-depth walkthrough). More than a
year has passed since my first and while I haven't received much feedback
on it (probably because I've changed my email since and forgot to update
the FAQ about it :P), I'm positive that it has been used and appreciated by
many :) At least _this_ time I already know that my FAQ _will_ come to
use as the game I've chosen is a popular and anticipated one: Nintendogs
- a pet-simulator for Nintendo DS that came out in Japan on April 21st.

And hey, do bear in mind that English is not my native language, so
grammatical errors probably _will_ occur throughout this walkthrough ^^
I do apologize for any misunderstandings that this might cause.

NOTE: This FAQ has Japanese letters in it - you need to install Japanese
language support in order to read them. See Chapter 11: Q&A for further
details.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2: PICK A PUPPY
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before "rolling out" (i.e. get to play catch and do other adorable stuff
with your very first puppy) we need to get pass a couple of screens where
you pick a breed, choose a colour, pay the pet shop etc. If you have ever
had a _real_ pet then you're probably already familiar with all of this
stuff. Anyway, let's move on! *arf*

Now, depending on which version you bought (Dachshund, Chihuahua or Shiba)
you'll have five completely different breeds to choose from. I myself
bought the brown one (Dachshund & Friends) and therefore have these five
breeds available right from the start: Miniature Dachshund, Miniature
Schnauzer, Yorkshire Terrier, German Shepard and Pug.
If you bought the blue box (Chihuahua & Friends) then you get to pick
either a Chihuahua, King Charles Spaniel, Shih Tzu, Labrador Retriever or
Beagle.
And lastly - if you got the green box (Shiba & Friends): Shiba, Shetland
Sheepdog, Miniature Pinscher, Welsh Corgi Puppy and Toy Poodle are all at
your disposal. So all in all there are fifteen different breeds and yes,
you can rest assured that they will _all_ become available to you at some
point in the game (in other words - you unlock 'em, see Chapter 11: Q&A).

As you power up your unit and enter the game, you'll be presented with
Nintendo's logo and eventually come to a door. Tap the door to knock on it
and voila - it opens up! Now after tapping on the arrow a couple of times
you're taken to the Kennel, where you are presented with two choices: "Buy"
(top left) and "Observe" (bottom right). The last one lets you observe
(duh) three puppies (Dachshund, Chihuahua and Shiba) as they play in the
backyard and you can even interact with them by tapping on the big circle
in the middle of the touch screen. While the puppies are displayed on the
top screen (have them on the touch screen? Tap the arrow in the upper left
corner to go back), you may center the camera on any of the puppies by
tapping on their pictures (or using A, B, X and Y) and also move it around
using the D-pad.
Whenever you're done here - tap the arrow in the upper left corner to go
back to "Buy" and "Observe".

Tap on "Buy" and you'll get to see pictures of the five available breeds
as well as their names on the lower screen, and a "plaque"-thingy that
displays some Japanese letters on the top screen. I assume they say
something like "Pick a breed", not that important to know anyway so I'm not
gonna bother anyone with it. Just pick a breed with your stylus, and don't
forget that you need to scroll down in order to see all the breeds (as you
can see, they're displayed three at a time).

Next you'll see three puppies of your chosen breed strolling along in the
backyard. The lower screen says "Which puppy would you like?" and you're
presented with pictures of three different coloured puppies - the ones you
see on the top screen. Here you can also see what gender they are as well
as read a short description of the breed (if you can read Japanese).

HINT: If you're not satisfied with the selection of available puppies (i.e.
their colours and/or sex) - try going back (tap the arrow in the upper left
corner) and selecting that breed again.

Tap on the one which you like the most and confirm your choice on the next
screen: the left square (at the bottom) is for proceeding and the right one
cancels your choice. The price tag indicates how much it cost to adopt this
puppy and below this is a description of the puppy's personality:

NOTE: The following Japanese letters will not _completely_ match with the
in-game descriptions (I'm only talking about the first word here) and this
is because I have stripped out what sex the puppy you're looking at has.
So first comes a short "keyword" (e.g. Reckless or Good natured), next to
that is Male or Female and underneath this - the description itself (e.g.
Affectionate and patient). So don't look at the _whole_ word on the touch
screen when you try to compare it to what is written here below or you'll
never find what you're looking for ;)

�����Ƃ�
Quiet and calm
Passive and loves to sleep a lot.

�����
Rambunctious
Childish and mischievous, cannot keep quiet.

���ނ����
Reckless
Stubborn and a bit hard to train.

�̂�т��
Easy going
Sympathetic and doesn't like to fight.

�₳�������i
Kind personality
Friendly and likes to meet new people.

��񂿂�
Mischievous
Active, curious and energetic, a real puppy.

���ς�
Naughty
Childish and mischievous, cannot keep quiet.

�V���C�Ȑ��i
Shy personality
Very close to those that are accepted as family.

�}�C�y�[�X
At its own pace
Calm and friendly nature.

����䂽��
Full of love
Loves being part of a family, gets lonely easily.

����V
Mama's baby
Very endearing but shy of strangers.

�C���Ă̂悢
Good natured
Affectionate and patient.

��M�I
Passionate
Gets very attached to those around.

���i�̖��邢
Cheerful personality
Recommended as a first time puppy.

�V�^���܂�
Full of naivete
Very excitable and hard to calm down, train well.

�|�����̒m�炸
Fierce and cool
So calm you wouldn't know it has any feelings at all.

�z�C�Ȑ��i
Merry character
Open to everyone but has some self respect.

If you choose to proceed (i.e. tap on the left square below), the camera
will zoom in on the puppy (on the yard) and the "plaque" will ask you "Is
this puppy OK?". The left, green square means Yes and right means No.

NOTE: Try to remember these Japanese words as they'll show up many times
during the game. Learning what is "Yes" (�͂�) and what is "No" (������) is
somewhat crucial and not hard at all :)

The game pretty much explains itself now for a short while. You'll get to
read some Japanese and I would guess that it talks about your new puppy
and how uncomfortable and scared it feels to be in your room at the moment
- like dogs usually react when they're taken to an unfamiliar environment.
Just tap the big arrow a couple of times and then eventually the big, round
circle in the middle of the screen. "You" will now whistle at your puppy to
get its attention and that's what the following plaque speaks about. Tap
the circle again once you've gotten past this and you'll finally be able to
pet your puppy! And be sure to do so a lot - until you see some sparkles.
Now it feels more comfortable in its new home.

Soon enough you'll be prompted to name your puppy - vocabulary. At this
point, you'll see the yellow plaque-thingy and you can tell what it wants
by the tiny microphone that shows up both in the Japanese text as well as
on the green "Begin recording"-button below the plaque (you'll want to tap
this when you're ready to begin). Naturally you don't have all the time in
the world to do this; after tapping on the green button - a grey circle
will appear above the puppy's head with a red microphone in it, and this
circle acts as a timer: the colour which fills the circle will decrease
clockwise, indicating how much time you have left to speak into the
Nintendo DS's microphone.
After successfully recording a name (you need to repeat it at least three
times), you get to write it down as well. Now luckily you don't _have_ to
use Japanese letters for this but can switch to our regular alphabet to
the left on the touch screen! Simply tap on A/1. Whenever you're done, tap
the grey rectangle below all the letters and then "Yes" (always the left
button I think, btw. In case you're having a hard time memorizing the
letters). Next step is confirming your chosen name and after that - it's
playtime ;)

NOTE: Your puppy won't magically respond to this name from now on - you'll
have to repeat it a couple of more times right after writing down a name.
If you don't do this then you won't be able to proceed and will be bugged
by a plaque which tells you to call out your puppy's name until you do.
Remember to pet your puppy (a lot) whenever it responds (i.e. barks once)
to its name.

NOTE #2: Before proceeding you'll also need to learn how to make your puppy
respond to voice commands given when attempting to teach your puppy tricks.
Again - this will keep bugging you until you succeed, so it's important
that you do this. The game will first show you how it's done and then it's
your turn.
What you do is you put your stylus anywhere on the touch screen and swiftly
move your hand downwards, like you were drawing a straight line. If you did
it right, your puppy will now sit _and_ an icon will appear at the top
right corner of your touch screen. This is how you issue voice commands and
tie them to tricks just like that one: simply tap on the icon (which has
the image of a head with a light bulb) and record either a word or sentence
before time runs out. Another light bulb should then appear above your
puppy's head to indicate that he/she understood the word you said, if not
you'll see a red question mark instead.
Regardless of whether you succeeded or not, you need to do this again and
again until the game plays a small tune and you get to write down a name
for the trick. Now I'm not sure of this, but I think that you have to make
your puppy sit by speaking into the microphone the word you just taught it
before you may finally proceed with the game.

If you're having any trouble with this part of the game, try this:

1. Always pet the puppy on its head when it understands what you're saying.
2. Do not SHOUT into the microphone!
3. Make sure you have your puppy's attention before speaking - call out its
name and wait until he/she barks before moving on.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 3: INTERFACE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

So now that you've chosen a puppy and given it a name you can finally start
having some fun! But in order to do that we first need to understand the
game's interface, which shouldn't be a problem and wouldn't have been at
all if it weren't for all the Japanese *duh* ^^

[HOME VIEW]
This is where you'll always begin when you boot up the game. You can access
this view by simply taping "Home" - which has the image of a book and is
always available one way or another; when interacting with your puppy (see
below) you have a huge arrow marked "Home" and that arrow can be found just
about everywhere. It will always take you back one step and eventually
Home.

When looking at your puppy in this view, you cannot interact with it - as
your puppy is displayed on the top screen. Instead, the touch screen is
filled with icons:

-An open book
-A box with stuff
-A silhouette of a human and his/her puppy
-A big circle with a head and a hand in it
-A picture of your puppy or puppies

THE OPEN BOOK
This is used for saving your game progress. Tap it once to have the game
ask you if you would like to save your game. If you answer Yes (to the
left, remember?), you'll see a puppy running while the Japanese probably
reads something like "Saving, do not turn your game console off or remove
the game card". After all - haven't we seen this stuff before?
Once your game has been saved, another plaque pops up - asking whether
you'd like to continue playing or not. Tap Yes to return back to Home, tap
No and your Nintendo DS will shut down.

THE BOX 'O STUFF
This will open up your inventory (Chapter 5: Inventory) or list of "Goods",
as the game refers to it.

THE SILHOUETTES
Take your puppy out for a walk to some place (Chapter 6: Going out) or hook
your DS up with a friend's (not yet covered in this FAQ).

THE BIG CIRCLE
This'll take you to the Interaction mode (see below) where you can play
with your puppy and feed it. You'll also have access to your inventory from
here.

YOUR PUPPY/PUPPIES
Tap on one of your puppies and the camera will follow it (this is then
indicated by a small camera in the picture of the puppy you tapped on). Tap
again to set the camera loose. You can also do this by pressing A, B, X or
Y and rotate the camera by using the D-pad.

If you tap on your puppy's name or the question mark, you'll bring up the
Status screen (Chapter 4: Status) where you can see how hungry and thirsty
your puppy is, what voice commands you've taught him/her, results for
competitions and more.

[INTERACTION MODE]
Here you get to interact with your puppy. You go here from the Home-view by
tapping the large, round circle in the middle of the screen which has the
image of a puppy's head and a hand.

Here you can either return to Home or open up your inventory (Goods).
Should you be holding an item or have one laying around somewhere - you'll
also see either an open or a closed box. If it's open - tap here to put
away/return the item. If the box is close - you'll see a small picture of
what's inside and can bring the item out again by tapping on it.

NOTE: Regardless of how you're looking at your puppy, a clock and date will
always be present on either screen. These are set to the same time as your
Nintendo DS when you play Nintendogs for the very first time. This game
plays in real-time, meaning that whenever the time is 9.35AM in real life -
it will also be 9.35AM in the game. You'll even notice when walking your
puppy how the sky and the surrounding area is rather bright in the day and
much darker in the evening.
This plays a somewhat important role in the game because, for example, you
can only enter three competitions a day and walk your dog every 30 minutes.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 4: STATUS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

By clicking on the huge question mark next to your puppy's name you bring
up a Status Screen which tells you some vital information, so pay
attention! Here's what the Japanese letters say, starting at the top and
then proceeding downwards, left to right:

NAME
RACE
OWNER
TIME SPENT WITH YOUR PUPPY (how much you've touched your puppy, apparently)
FUR
HUNGER
THIRST
LAST MEAL

Bottom left: Tricks Taught (tap one and then confirm to have it deleted)
Bottom right: Competition Results (puppy-specific)

Now, here's a tiny problem with this screen. As you may already have
noticed, it doesn't have any bars - it's all letters, which means that in
order for you to tell whether your puppy is hungry or thirsty and needs to
take a bath or not, you'll have to learn some Japanese :)

Beautiful fur: 	���ꂢ
Very Beautiful:	�ƂĂ����ꂢ
Dirty:		�悲��Ă���
Long fur: 	����
Short fur: 	�Z��
Hungry: 	��������
Very Hungry:	�y�R�y�R
Full:		�܂�Ղ�
Thirsty: 	���킢�Ă���
Dried out:	�J���J��
Moistened:	���邨���Ă���
Normal/Fine: 	�ӂ‚�

HINT: To keep your puppy's fur clean - bathe it! :) Buy a bottle of shampoo
at a Goods shop (Chapter 6: Going out and Chapter 7: Your neighbourhood)
and make sure it's the right one (depending on whether your puppy has long
or short fur, see above). You'll then find the bottle in your inventory -
Caretaking (Chapter 5: Inventory). Tap on it and then tap the left green
button in order to answer "Yes" to the question "Would you like to take a
bath with <YOUR PUPPY'S NAME HERE>?". Now, lather your puppy up real good
by using the stylus (be careful when washing his behinds) and when it's all
covered up - tap the showerhead in the top right corner of your touch-
screen. Use this to rinse the fur, keeping away from the face, until all
the lather is gone. You're done, now wasn't that fun? :) You could also get
a brush and brush your puppy right after giving him/her a bath.
Bathing your pup will also keep fleas away (yep, your puppy can get these).

Note that when giving a bath you do not need to use several shampoo
bottles in order to get from "Dirty" to "Beautiful fur", for example.
Instead - just lather your puppy's fur up real good, rinse it, and repeat!
Eventually you will reach "Very Beautiful" (that's when your puppy's fur
begins to sparkle for a short while) and because the fur can't get any
cleaner than that - the whole bathing thing will come to an end.
Another way to tell when the fur turns "Very Beautiful" while bathing your
puppy is that the showerhead will start moving and give away a sound while
lathering your pup. This indicates that now's the time to grab the shower-
head and start rinsing your puppy's fur - because it can't get any cleaner
than this.

HINT #2: Always bathe your puppy before taking it to the Dog Contest
(Chapter 9: Competitions)!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 5: INVENTORY
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting to see your inventory is easy - just tap on the box that has a lot
of stuff to its right. It even says "Goods" if you're in interaction mode
(Chapter 3: Interface).
What shows up next is five small boxes, each with a symbol on it and some
Japanese letters below. Here's what they represent, from left to right:

Sports - e.g. Tennis Ball and Chewing Bone
Toys - e.g. Soap Bubble Maker and Balloon
Accessories/Fashion - e.g. Collar and Glasses
Caretaking - e.g. Water and Brush
Music - e.g. Recorder (see below) and Musical Box
Time - e.g. Modern Clock and Clover Clock (replaces the in-game clock)
Misc - e.g. Wooden Stick and Bottle

Tap on any of these to see all the available items that you have in that
category; to your left is a picture of the item, then comes its name, and
lastly a question mark which tells you a little about the item.
You can scroll up and down either by using the stylus or D-pad.

RECORDER
So, about that recorder you've got - here's how to use it for recording:

1. Tap the Record-button (above Play, which is already selected in green).
2. Move the needle on your right so that it touches the edge of the disc.
3. While the needle is moving inwards - start talking into the microphone.
4. When you're done - place the needle back where it was.
5. Tap on the Play-button.
6. Move the needle back onto the disc and listen to yourself talk :)

Should you want to delete what you have recorded, press "DEL" below the
Play-button and then answer Yes (tap the left button as usual). Tap No to
cancel (right one).

These messages could then be transferred to another Nintendogs owner. Now,
I say "these" because you're able to find more records when out on a walk
(Chapter 6: Going out) and thus store more than one message.

However, the records you find may also be used for playing music! Some of
them will have your puppies simply dance to the music as you play the
record, whereas others have been reported to have "special effects" to the
gameplay - such as the Naptime record which will lull your pups to sleep.

HINT: Remember to turn the recorder off (i.e. move the needle away from
the disc) before you leave this screen or it will loop whatever record that
you're playing - even if you exit ^^

HINT #2: The slider to the far right is for adjusting the playback-speed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 6: GOING OUT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are plenty of locations you could visit in Nintendogs and here's how
and what they are. First, get back to the Home-view (Chapter 3: Interface)
and then tap the silhouette of a human and its puppy, walking alongside of
each other. You'll see four circles after that and from left to right, they
represent: Shopping, Walk, Network and Competition.

[SHOPPING]
Tap on the briefcase to be presented with a number of locations where you
can either spend or retrieve money:

Top left: Goods Shop
Top right: Recycle Shop
Middle: Kennel
Bottom left: Reform Shop
Bottom right: Dog Hotel

Tap any of the locations and you'll immediately be taken there.

GOODS
The top screen shows a rendered picture of what the store looks like inside
and has a plaque which probably says something like "What would you like to
buy?". The touch screen has all the items on it; on the far left side you
see a small image of it, then comes the item name, and then a price tag.
Scroll the list up and down by either using your stylus (the bar on the
far right of the touch screen) or the D-pad.

NOTE: A list of all available items will be available in this FAQ
eventually. For now, just look at the items to try and figure out for
yourself what items you can buy - you can get a 3D-image to look at if you
tap on an item, which should ease things up a little.

Pick an item you're interested in buying by tapping on it. You then get to
see the item in 3D as it rotates on the top screen, whereas the touch
screen displays how much it costs and also gives you a brief description of
the item. Tap the arrows to your left to increase/decrease how many you
would like to buy.

HINT: When looking at an item on the top screen you may rotate and tilt the
view by pressing the D-pad!

To complete the purchase - tap the left button at the bottom of the screen.
The right button will take you back to the list of items.

These items are available at the beginning of the game:

Water			����
Dry Food		�h���C�t�[�h
Short Hair Schampoo	�Z�уV�����v�[
Long Hair Schampoo	���уV�����v�[
Rubber Brush 		���o�[�u���V (this one's for short hair)
Slicker Brush		�X���b�J�[�u���V (this one's for long hair)
Disc (red)		�f�B�X�N�i�ԁj
Disc (blue)		�f�B�X�N�i�j
Leather Collar (red)	���U�[�J���[�i�ԁj
Leather Collar (black)	���U�[�J���[�i���j
Ribbon (red)		���{���i�ԁj
Ribbon (yellow)		���{���i���j

NOTE: The greater majority of the items in the game can only be _found_ and
not bought. Apart from the items above I've only also come across a
skiprope, balloons and a bag of biscuits - and they are not unlockables but
simply come and go. There _may_ be more than theese, but again - you're
supposed to _find_ and/or _trade_ the cooler items, not buy them in a shop.
There are in fact some items that can only be attained through trading,
because they're specific to each of the three versions available. Take my
RC Mario Kart for example - it wouldn't surprise me if you can find a Luigi
Kart in one of the other versions, and probably even Dino or someone else
in the third, but they're all restricted to their version of the game.

RECYCLE
This is where you sell stuff. The interface here is a combination of the
Goods Shop and your inventory (chapter 5: Inventory) and thus shouldn't be
hard to understand, so I'll just leave it there.

KENNEL
You've been here before, remember? ;) Adopt another puppy if you want to
and can afford it.

REFORM
Sick of your apartment? Get a new one! They're quite expensive though ><
Click on an apartment to see what it looks like on the top screen.

And as always - the two buttons at the bottom of the touch screen means Yes
(left) and No (right). But this time they probably say "Buy" and "Cancel"
or something similar to that.

More apartments will become available as you advance through the game and
you'll always be able to go back to one of your previous apartments -
sometimes for free, sometimes it'll cost some money. It seems to depend on
how old they are.

NOTE: It will take somewhere around 24 hours before your new apartment
comes into play.

HOTEL
While you can only have three puppies on the screen at the same time, you
also have the option to put up to five of them in a hotel and thus making
room for new ones! The three circles which appear if you go here says
"Exchange", "Store dog" and "Take dog with you". I'm pretty sure you can
figure out how to use this by yourself :)

The rectangular button at the bottom left corner lets you abandon a puppy.
Naturally, you can't get it back if you do this, so be careful not to tap
this by mistake!

[WALK]
See Chapter 7: Your neighbourhood.

[NETWORK]
Now, since I don't know anyone IRL who has this game, I can't test to see
how this feature works. But here's how I've been told it works:

After tapping on this icon, which has a DS on it, a plaque will come up and
ask you if you'd like to go for a "wireless walk". Tap the left button to
continue - right to cancel. Next you'll be asked whether your puppy should
bring a present or not, tap Yes and you'll be taken to your inventory
(Goods) where you may select any item you want. Naturally, after picking an
item, you'll have to confirm your selection.
Next you'll see your puppy running on the streets on the top screen (with
or without a present in its mouth) while the touch screen assumingly asks
if you want to turn WiFi mode on. Tap No to cancel the whole thing and
return to Home.
Tap Yes and WiFi will be switched on (hence is why the power light is now
_flashing_ green) - your game is now open for communication and actively
searching for other Nintendog-owners. You may abort the operation by
tapping the one button at the buttom of the touch screen.

HINT: Close the DS to put your game into sleep mode - or Bark Mode, rather.
Should you get within WiFi range of another player at any time during this
mode (assuming _that_ player is also in either WiFi or Bark Mode) - your
Nintendo DS will bark to indicate that someone else is around! Simply
unfold your DS to meet up with each other and see below.

Once another player has been found, the game will (naturally) inform you of
this, after which you'll get to see the names of the other player and their
puppy. Tap the red arrow to continue and have any presents delivered, after
which you'll also get to hear a recorded message - if there is one
(RECORDER, Chapter 5: Inventory). If so, this message will loop until the
button on the touch screen is pressed.
Now you and the other player gets to interact with and observe your puppies
as they play with each other. Should any of you press the Hand-icon, that
person will have the other puppy's data "transferred" to his/her DS to
actually interact and play with - for as long as he/she likes. It doesn't
matter should the other player turn off his DS or whatever.
To quit playing - go back to Home and tap Yes to end the meet-up.

[COMPETITION]
Tap on the goblet and then move on to Chapter 9: Competitions.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 7: YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a rather important part of the game. I'm pretty certain of that
everyone already knows how much dogs like to go out and that it's not
healthy for them _not_ to exercise. These "rules" apply in Nintendogs as
well, so make sure you walk your puppy at least once every day or it will
suffer from it - both physically and emotionally.

NOTE: You can only go for a walk every 30 minutes.

At your Home-view you have the choice to take your puppy for a walk around
the neighbourhood; simply click on the icon (to your left on the touch
screen) that has a blue person walking next to a dog on it (it reads "Go
out"). You'll then be presented with a number of new icons and not
surprisingly enough - the one in the upper right corner is the right one
(it has a dog in a leach on it) ^^ Tap on it and then confirm that you _do_
want to take your puppy out for a walk (the left green box says "Yes").

What you see now is an overhead map of the neighbourhood on the lower
screen while the top screen requests that you draw a route and also tells
you a little about stamina; see that small, rectangular bar on the left?
As you map your walk using the stylus, the yellow colour that fills this
bar will decrease and you _have_ to end the walk at your place _before_
the yellow is depleted.
You can easily adjust your route by simply drawing "backwards" - then the
pen will erase instead of draw. Should you want to do it quicker - tapping
the eraser in the upper left corner will erase the _entire_ path, while
placing and holding the stylus on a spot where you'd like to go back to
will erase everything drawn _after_ that spot.
And naturally, should you regret ever coming here then simply tap on the
arrow above the eraser to go back one step.

HINT: You can move the view around by using the D-pad, to see more of your
neighbourhood!

HINT #2: The more you activate your puppy in this way, the higher stamina
it gets - thus will you be able to walk further!

See any question marks on the map? Because that's where you can expect
certain events to take place; such as meeting another puppy or even finding 
a present! So naturally, you'll want to "hit" as many of these as possible.
So, let's talk a little about the events:

MEETING WITH ANOTHER PUPPY
This could be either a good or a bad thing, actually, as they'll either
become friends and play with each other or start barking like crazy and, if
they get too close to each other, even attack! I haven't really figured out
what this means yet - what bad can come out of an attack and what good can
come out of making a friend. For now, I'm just assuming that it'll affect
your puppy's behaviour and character.

HINT: You decide how close you want your puppy to be able to go by moving
the leash around (though the actual decision on whether to get closer or
not is up to your puppy - moving the leash around doesn't mean that he/she
will move accordingly). If you don't want them to interact at all - just
keep the leash on "your" side of the screen. You may also "cancel" the
meeting by tapping the arrow in the upper left corner of the screen.

FINDING PRESENTS
You might also stumble upon a present while walking! This could be anything
from a bottle of water to some rare toy that you haven't even seen before.
There's not much to do here, it seems; your puppy will simply rush off
outside of the screen and then come back with the present in its mouth.
Naturally, the game immediately tells you what was in the parcel but unless
you know how to read Japanese, you won't have a clue on what it was until
you get back home and get to examine your inventory again. So just tap the
big arrow until this event is over.

There are times when the present is just laying there on the ground and
you have to stop your dog in order for him/her to pick it up. Be quick
about this or you'll just walk past by it! This is probably to prevent you
from building up a library of free stuff without having to work for it -
now it's more of a sport and you can bet your ass on that these presents
will have cooler stuff in them :)
To make your puppy come to a stop - just yank the leash.

PEE AND POOP
Yes, your puppy _will_ leave droppings behind and you'd better pick it up!
Just tap the poop when he/she is done and it'll disappear into a paper bag.
No need to bother about the pee, though.
Should you continously not bother with picking up the poop, then one of
your neighbours will eventually come out and yell at you, shaming you into
doing it in the future. This will result in a small penalty towards your
Owner Points (Chapter 10: System Options).

NOTE: Sometimes when you meet up with another puppy and there's a pool of
pee nearby (the blue circles on the map) - the pool will start flashing and
I assume this means that it "belongs" to the other puppy (could be yours as
well). Chances are big that the two will start fighting should you let them
go near each other at a time like this, as the pee obviously is used to
mark territory.

GARBAGE
This is something that appears randomly and should be avoided. It will show
up as a trashcan on your map if you encounter it, but on the screen it may
look like anything from an open cardboard box to a pile of trash.
Naturally, your puppy wants to examine it and isn't afraid of eating
whatever's in there, so you have to yank the leash and drag him/her away
from it! Should you fail to do so - you'll hear a slow, sad tune playing
while your dog looks somewhat nauseous and shameful.
Be careful or it might get sick, I suppose. Not to mention dirty (just
guessing).

SPECIAL LOCATIONS
There are several locations with a point of interest that you could visit
and you'll recognize one of them from Chapter 6 - the Goods shop. _These_
however are named Discount Shops and you can probably guess why.

There are also two parks nearby - the perfect place for playing with
your puppy. You should definitely go here if you want him/her to practice
on catching the frisbee :) The park can even have other puppies visiting it
- when this happens you'll see a tiny puppy-icon (or two) in the park.

Lastly there's the Athletic Hall where you need to take your puppy before
you can enter the Agility Tournament (Chapter 9: Competitions). You'll find
it to your right, can't miss it - kinda big and arena-like, and brown.

HINT: You can make your puppy run by grabbing the leash with your stylus,
move it to the left side of the screen and then quickly drag it to the
right side! Just don't let go of the leash unless you want your pup to stop
running and start walking again.
Although your walks won't last as long when you do this, there is one
drawback: you'll have a harder time picking up presents that are lying
around (other than those found at the question marks) since your puppy is
running so fast and you can't have it come to an immediate stop, so chances
are high that you'll miss the present even if you let go of the leash after
spotting one.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 8: TRICKS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tricks like learning your puppy how to sit, lay down and roll over are
pulled off by using your stylus. For example, in order to have your puppy
sit, place the tip of your stylus somewhere on the touch screen and swiftly
move your hand downwards, like you were drawing a straight line. If you did
it right, your puppy will now sit _and_ an icon will appear at the top
right corner of your touch screen. This is how you issue voice commands and
tie them to tricks just like that one: simply tap on the icon (which has
the image of a head with a light bulb) and record a word or a sentence
before time runs out.
Once your puppy has managed to learn a voice command you'll immediately be
prompted to write down a name for it. This is to stop you from forgetting
a recorded command - you may have a look at what tricks you've written
down at any given time in order to refresh your memory (Chapter 4: Status).

NOTE: Remember to pet your puppy whenever you manage to pull off a trick!
As IRL, it's important to show your puppy that he/she did a good job :)
Also, you cannot teach your puppy too many tricks each day - eventually,
you'll get a message saying that his head is too full to learn more and
that you should wait until tomorrow.

HINT: Sometimes while petting your puppy after he/she has pulled off a
trick, a yellow bone will appear below your puppy's head. This is a treat
which you can feed your dog with - simply touch the bone with your stylus
and move it to the puppy's mouth. It seems that this will increase your
Owner Points a little (Chapter 10: System Options).

To see a list of some of the tricks that can be taught, open up your
inventory and tap on Caretaking (Chapter 5: Inventory). Now scroll down
until you see some green books (they look like boxes though) which has tiny
puppies on them and tap on the second book. Pages 4 to 11 have tricks on
them and they're not very hard to understand either.

Also, everytime you say something that you want your puppy to remember,
there will either be a light bulb or a question mark above the puppy's
head. The light bulb indicates that the puppy could understand what you
just said while a red question marks means the opposite. Oddly enough - you
can feed your puppy with the light bulb by dragging it to the puppy's mouth
but I don't have a clue on what it might be good for... enhanced learning
capacity, perhaps?

Should you see a _blue_ question mark then what you said interferes with
another trick, i.e. you've already assigned this word to something else.

HINT: Do not SHOUT into the microphone!! Speak with a normal tone, it's not
necessary to raise your voice - The DS's microphone is pretty sensitive
and _will_ catch your words even if you use a regular tone.
You can even adjust how sensitive it should be. See Chapter 10: System
Options and then System Settings.

Now then, I'm not going to provide you with a list of tricks as I find
this would spoil a lot of fun, because finding out what tricks are
available and how to perform them _are_ part of the fun. But I _will_ give
you this hint: most advanced tricks are pulled off by combining two less
advanced tricks. An example would be the reversed Somersault - first tell
your puppy to Sit, then jump. This will result in your puppy doing a
somersault backwards.
For those of you with little patience or who just doesn't care - there's a
Trick and Dog Contest FAQ available at GameFAQs.com by arieneko.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 9: COMPETITIONS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are three sports for you and your puppy to compete in: Disc Dog
Tournament, Agility Tournament and Dog Contest. You can place either first,
second or third and will receive price money accordingly. Whenever you
qualify for any of these - you advance to the next level, which will
automatically initiate the next time you enter that sport. There are five
levels in each sport: Beginner, Open, Expert, Masters and Championship.

NOTE: Should you fail to qualify, it seems that you fall back one level.
Also, there's a restriction as to how many times you may compete each day.
More information to come as I haven't really figured this one out yet -
usually it's three competitions a day but I there _have_ been times when
I could only enter them twice.

DISC DOG TOURNAMENT
Now before you enter this contest, you will want to train your puppy on
chasing and catching a frisbee. I recommend going to a park (Chapter 7:
Your neighbourhood) rather than throwing a frisbee indoors and I don't
think I have to explain why :)
Once you've learned how to throw the frisbee high and far and your puppy is
good at catching it, you're ready to enter the Disc Dog Tournament!

Now, you'll have to read through a lot of chatter going on between two
sports commentators before moving on. You should pay attention to what they
say if you're interested in knowing how many points are needed to qualify
for a price (this will display in red).

HINT: Tap the screen while the commentators are talking to speed them up,
tap the big arrow at intervals to advance the chatter and continue with the
contest.

Once they're done talking, you'll have 60 seconds to score as many points
as possible. Just throw the frisbee using your stylus and pray that your
puppy knows how to catch it :) You'll score one point higher if he/she
manages to catch the frisbee in mid-air and also for throwing it further:
the field is split up into six colours and depending on which colour your
puppy is within during the catch, you'll get a different score:

Dark Green: 	 0
Green: 		1-2
Light Green: 	3-4
Orange: 	5-6
Red: 		7-8
Blue: 		9-10

Regardless of whether your puppy catches the frisbee or not - he'll need to
bring it back to you before you can give it another try (naturally). If he
doesn't - tap the screen to get his attention.

HINT: You can train your puppy to return the frisbee without you having to
tap the screen; every time your puppy brings the frisbee back, pet its head
before retrieving the frisbee.

AGILITY TOURNAMENT
I'll begin by saying that you'll need to visit the Athletic Hall (Chapter
7: Your neighbourhood) to train your puppy before you can even enter this
contest.

The Agility Tournament is all about leading your puppy through tubes, make
it jump over hurdles, have it zigzag between poles and such. This isn't as
hard as it may sound - especially not if you know the trick, which is to
practically never let the stylus leave hold of the touch screen. At least
it works great for me when moving around the course, jumping over hurdles,
walking through tubes and zigzagging between poles.

As with the Disc Dog Tournament, there are two sport commentators who have
a lot to say before you may even begin guiding your puppy through the
assault course. Again - pay attention to what they say if you're interested 
in knowing what the requirements are to qualify for a price (this will
display in red - both how many penalty points you may have as well as what
time you must pass under).
As soon as they're done chattering there will be a countdown from 3 to 0.
All the action takes place on the touch screen, naturally, while the top
screen displays an overhead map of the course with all the obstacles
numbered so you know in which order you need to pursue them. The obstacle
which is up next is always flashing to make it easier to find.
Guiding your puppy is as easy as tapping on the touch screen where you want
it to go (and there, a yellow circle will appear so you know where exactly
you tapped), or you could simply tap and hold - then drag the stylus
around. This is how it _should_ be done, if you ask me. Jumping over
hurdles and crawling through tubes becomes so much easier if you use this
technique.

NOTE: While you could only get a _positive_ score in the Disc Dog
Tournament - failing to jump over a hurdle or crossing the swinging board
are both examples of what will give you a penalty in _this_ sport.

And speaking of these two obstacles - here's a short rundown of what
challenges you can expect to find on the course and how to tackle them:

Hurdles: You'll notice how the yellow marker sticks to these when your
stylus comes near one. Once your puppy is close enough, you'll be able to
move the marker again and this is why you should never let your stylus
leave hold of the touch screen; because as your puppy nears the hurdle,
you'll need to tell him/her where to land.
So here's how I do to overcome this obstacle: as soon as the marker sticks
to the hurdle, I hold my stylus there and await my puppy. When she's close
enough, I simply move the stylus to the other side and then she leaps to
where I'm holding it now.
Give it some practice and you'll soon get a hang of it :)

Tubes: Same as with the hurdles - when you get close to it, the yellow
marker will stick to the entrance and as your puppy approaches, it comes
loose. Then you just have to follow the tube with your stylus to have your
puppy run through it. Do not let go of the stylus or your puppy will stop
and, if you just live him/her there, start to whine in a really cute way ^^

Swinging Boards: This one's a bit tricky to master, because you'll get a
penalty if your puppy doesn't jump off at the _end_ of it or before that
end hits the ground. First tap the swinging board once to have your puppy
get up on it, then either tap the other end of the board or drag your
stylus there to make your puppy start walking towards it. To make sure that
he/she won't get off it until the end hits the ground - tap its centre to
have your puppy sit down and wait, then lead him off it. At least that's
what the manual states - but I prefer tapping two or three times on the
other end of the board once my puppy gets there. Always works for me :)

Poles: Have your puppy zigzag through these by moving the stylus around
pole after pole - from the left side to the right, then left again and so
on. It's gonna take some time but rest assured that the more you practice
on doing this - the faster and more lithe will your puppy become.

DOG CONTEST
The Dog Contest is perhaps the trickiest sport as you'll be given
instructions _in Japanese_ on what your puppy must do to please the judges.
This could be anything from "Lie down and then roll over" to "Sit for 3
seconds" and because you only have so much time to perform these tricks -
this is a pretty stressful sport if you can't read Japanese.

HINT: Before entering this competition - bathe and brush your puppy to gain 
some bonus points from the judges!

Let's talk about interface first, so you know where to look and for what.
As always, all the action takes place on the touch screen so this is where
you want to keep your eyes throughout the contest. There will be a clock in
the upper left corner which displays how much time there's left for your
puppy to perform and next to this (inside a banner) you'll be given
commands on what your puppy must do next. Here's a list of some rather
basic tricks for you to compare with what the words inside this banner
says:

Sit		  �������
Shake Paw	  ����
Lie Down	  �ӂ�
Roll over	  �S���[��
Turn around	  ���܂��
Jump		  �W�����v
Beg		  �`���`��
Sneeze		  �������
Twirl		  �t���t��
Free performance  ���R���Z

Now, these tricks may come one by one but they could also be combined and
if so, there will be arrows between the words. Here's an example:

������� -> �ӂ� -> �S���[��

Here, the banner/judges _first_ wants you to make your puppy sit, _then_
lie down and _lastly_ to roll over.

The banner may include a number somewhere as well. This means that your
puppy will have to perform that trick for a number of seconds before he
passes it. Needless to say - this could be combined with other tricks as
well.
Look closely whenever you get one of these as it might be tricky to see
what the judges want you to pull off because of the other Japanese letters
that fills the banner. My guess is that the string goes like this:

<TRICK> <for> <#> <of seconds>

NOTE: This contest will always end with the Free Performance (���R���Z) -
which is to have your puppy pull off as many tricks as possible in any
order before time runs out! The more advanced the tricks are, the better
scores you get.

Once you're done with everything, it's finally time to find out how well
your puppy fared! There are three judges and they'll each give their
opinion in the traditional way - by numbers ranging from 0.0 to 10.0. This
will then add up to an average score, your final score, which must then
match up to any of the three scores that will come next as one of the two
regular commentators from the other sports tells you how much is needed for
qualifying for a third, second, and first place as well as repeat how well
you and your puppy performed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 10: SYSTEM OPTIONS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every game has its System Options and Nintendogs is no exception. To access
this menu, go to "Home" (Chapter 3: Interface), tap the puppy and human
silhouette, and then tap the white thingy with a piece of paper on it to
your right. It says "Information" and will display four options:

OWNER INFO
Go here to change what other Nintendogs owners will see when they connect
to you wirelessly. Your name comes first, then your birthday, and lastly
you're able to write a small comment or welcoming message. As you can see,
there's also a drawing of you to the right. You may edit any of these
fields by first tapping on the big pen in the upper right corner (it even
says "Edit", so duh) and then the field you would like to edit.

HINT: As always - any big, red arrow in the upper left corner means "Back".

Underneath all of this there's even more information about you; the numbers
are "Owner Points" (guess what they mean) and then comes your title as a
puppy owner. I'll try to include a list of all titles in the future.
Lastly, to the right of this are your puppies.

NOTE: Owner Points are gathered by you being a good master :) I.e. take
care of your puppy - make sure it's happy. And winning competitions will
earn you "plenty" of points! Especially should you place first.

FRIEND LIST
Whenever your DS communicates with another (NETWORK in Chapter 6: Going
out) - the other player's Owner Info (see above) will be saved here so you
can tell who you've been linking up with.
Can't give you anything more than that though, as I haven't got anyone to
link up with.

Should _you_ have anything that you would like to add here - don't hesitate
to contact me!

TITLE RECORDS
See how well your puppy has performed (Competitions). Once you've picked a
sport, the touch screen will display the levels Open, Expert, Masters and
Championship (no Beginners!) - from the bottom to the top. Go back using
the arrow in the upper left corner.

SYSTEM SETTINGS
Here you'll see four icons to your left followed by Japanese letters and
then the settings themselves to the far right and what they're set to.
You have the "Power Saver Setting" at the top, then comes "Microphone
Sensitivity", "Clock Display" and lastly "Search for PictoChat". By default
they're set to On, Good, On and Off. Here's what you can set them to
instead by tapping on the yellow arrows (I'll begin with what's default):

Power Saver Setting: On -> Off
Microphone Sensitivity: Good -> Dull -> Normal
Clock Display: On -> Off
Search for PictoChat: Off -> On (Sound On) -> On (Sound Off)

The left button at the bottom of the screen probably means Apply while the
other one is Cancel.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 11: Q&A
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: I spotted three different covers for Nintendogs - what's up with that?
A: As explained in Chapter 2: Pick a Puppy, Nintendo released three
versions - each containing fifteen puppies all in all, but with only five
playable breeds right out of the box and these five breeds are decided by
which version that you decide to buy.
Also, not all the 100+ items are available in all three versions.


Q: Hey, what's this latest Best Friends version?
A: It's a special version that only comes with the limited-edition bundle
where you get a teal colored Nintendo DS and Nintendogs: Best Friends. This
version includes all the breeds from the previous (english) versions - but
the starting breeds are Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, German
Shepherd, Beagle, Yorkshire Terrier and Miniature Dachshund.


Q: How do I get more breeds to choose from?
A: By gathering enough Owner Points (Chapter 10: System Options), which you
do by being a good owner :) And winning competitions, of course.
There's also the "easy" way, if you know someone who bought a different
version of the game than you - simply have your puppies play together
(NETWORK, Chapter 6: Going out) and you'll both unlock the breed that your
puppy is playing with (and the ).


Q: Help! I just started playing and now I'm stuck with this plaque which
pops up again and again and I can't do anything! What's wrong?
A: You probably haven't followed Chapter 2: Pick a Puppy to the end. After
naming your puppy, you'll need to call its name a couple of times, to see
that it really responds to it and to learn that that's how you do to get
its attention.
So just call out whatever name you recorded, pet the puppy in-between
times and you'll eventually proceed with the game.


Q: Help! The plaque still bothers me but I think it has to do with
something else this time!
A: That is correct. Again - read Chapter 2 and you'll find the answer at
the end of it (NOTE #2).


Q: What's with the yellow bone that sometimes appear when I pet my puppy?
A: Read the first HINT in Chapter 8: Tricks.


Q: Why is it that I cannot enter any more competitions? Doesn't matter
which one I pick - all I get is a bunch of Japanese characters.
A: You cannot enter more than three competitions a day. Remember that this
game plays in real-time so that's one day _IRL_. Once the clock is at 0.00
or 12 (i.e. midnight), you'll be able to enter the competitions again.


Q: When I try to walk my puppy, it seems that my request is rejected?
A: Did you recently take it out for a walk? Because you can only do it
every 30 minutes.


Q: Gah, I spent XXX.XXX Yen on a new apartment but nothing happened?!
A: You have to wait somewhere around 24 hours before your new apartment
comes into play.


Q: What the... My puppy disappeared from the screen when I wasn't looking?!
A: The manual states that "you should not panic when you can't find your
puppy - he may have gone out and will return shortly." So just hang in
there and he/she will eventually return, maybe even with a present! :)


Q: Will my puppy/puppies live on forever?
A: Yes! While you can (and should) feed your puppy - it will never die of
starvation, nor does it age. Food is merely for keeping your puppy happy
and alert.


Q: Will there ever be a US or European version?
A: Yes, the US version was released on August 22nd. The European version
will be released on October 7th.


Q: Will there be any significant differences between these versions??
A: Yes; apart from having more items to collect, the US version will also
include one more breed per game. So instead of having a total of 15 breeds
- the US version will have 18 of them. These three new breeds are Boxer,
Golden Retriever and Husky. Furthermore, the Shiba covering the Shiba &
Friends package has been replaced by a Labrador retriever instead (and is
thus now known as Lab & Friends).


Q: Cool! So tell me - what package in the US version includes which breeds?
A: Lab & Friends has the Labrador, Schnauzer, Poodle, Corgi, Pinscher and
Shiba in it. Chihuahua & Friends has a Chihuahua, German shepherd, Boxer,
King Charles Spaniel, Terrier and Sheepdog. Lastly, Dachshund & Friends
contains the Dachshund, Golden retriever, Beagle, Pug, Husky and Shih Tzu.


Q: Where can I pick up this cute little game if I don't feel like waiting
for a localized version?
A: Well, you could either search for an online store by using Google or
Altavista, travel to Japan and buy it yourself, or if you happen to know
someone who lives there (or is going there on a vacation/to study) - ask
him/her to get it for you :) Me? I bought it @ www.lik-sang.com


Q: I would like to restart! Can I somehow reset the game?
A: Power up your DS, start the game and _immediately_ hold down A B X Y R
and L. If you managed to do it in time a plaque should pop up on the touch
screen along with two green buttons. Press the left button to accept
resetting the game and press it twice. Then wait for like half a minute or
so while the DS erases everything from the cart. Done.

THIS WILL RESET EVERYTHING! Puppies _and_ items. If you just wanna give up
a puppy then you can do so at the Dog Hotel (Chapter 6: Going out).


Q: I've heard about a hidden breed, is this true?
A: Yes it is. If you've got the Japanese version and are lucky enough,
you'll stumble upon a book about the Jack Russel Terrier when walking your
puppy. This special item will unlock the said breed and make it available
at the kennel.
If you own the US version then you'll also be able to unlock the Dalmatian
by finding a fireman's hat.


Q: Help! I can't see the Japanese letters in your FAQ!
A: You need to install Japanese language support. Go here if you're using
Windows: http://newton.uor.edu/Departments&Programs/AsianStudiesDept/
Language/asianlanguageinstallation_XP.html

If you can't get it to work or are just a lazy bum - you could go here
instead and everything will work just fine as long as you haven't turned
images off in your browser: www.medwaypvb.com/nintendogs.htm


Q: What's with the "Special thanks" in your credits?
A: I could never have written this FAQ without these people - they're the
ones who helps me out with all the Japanese and I can't thank them enough
for being there when I need them.


Q: So what was your first FAQ/Walkthrough anyway?
A: "Koinu Chan No Hajimete No Osanpo" - a similar game that came out in
2004 on Game Boy Advance. FAQ is still available @ IGN.com.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 12: UPDATES (FAQ)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

26.12.2005
----------
* Replaced a broken link in Chapter 11: Q&A. If you're having trouble
seeing the Japanese letters - try this new link, which explains how to
install Japanese language support for Windows XP, 2000 and 95/98!

Thanks goes out to Robin Swanson for pointing this one out.


06.11.2005
----------
* Added some information about the Best Friends version to Chapter 11: Q&A.
Also changed the game's available number of items from 150+ to 100+ (the
first question in this Chapter).


24.10.2005
----------
* Updated information on the Recorder at Chapter 5: Inventory! Right above
the HINTS I now speak about how you may find records for playback and what
these might do when you play them.


05.09.2005
----------
* Added the game's European release date (October 7th) to Chapter 11: Q&A.


29.08.2005
----------
* Another update regarding hidden breeds - apparently it has been confirmed
that both the Dalmatian _and_ Jack Russel Terrier are unlockable in the US
version.
No word on whether the Dalmatian made it into the Japanese release or not.

* Just to make things more clear I added a short line to the end of FINDING
PRESENTS (Chapter 7: Your Neighbourhood) on exactly _how_ you make your
puppy come to a stop (just yank the leash).

* Now that the US version(S) has been released, I made some minor changes
throughout Chapter 11: Q&A.


15.08.2005
----------
* Updated the question in Chapter 11: Q&A regarding hidden breeds. Now the
question also answers what breed is unlockable in the US version and what
item will unlock it.


04.08.2005
----------
* It has come to my knowledge that I have accidentally left out information
on how you gain Owner Points in Chapter 10 - but touched the subject in one
the questions in Chapter 11 instead. So I have now added a small NOTE just
below OWNER POINTS in Chapter 10 regarding this subject.

* Added a small piece of information to Chapter 4: Status on how the
showerhead will let you know when the fur of your puppy has reached its
climax - while bathing your pup.

* Added another Q&A to Chapter 11: Q&A which explains the differences
between the Japanese and US versions of Nintendogs.

* Added a NOTE to GOODS in Chapter 6: Going Out where I speak a little
about attaining items and how the greater majority of them simply cannot be
bought but must be found and/or traded.


22.07.2005
----------
* I discovered that when giving your pup a bath you can raise the status of
its fur by repeatedly shampooing and rinsing it - saving Schampoo by not
having to use several bottles. This information has been added to the first
HINT in Chapter 4: Status.


12.06.2005
----------
* Added a HINT to Chapter 7: Your neighbourhood on how to make your puppy
run while out on a walk! Many thanks to Ryno from South Africa for letting
me know about this.


05.06.2005
----------
* I've added information on how this game plays in real-time (Chapter 3:
Interface and Chapter 11: Q&A). Somewhat embarrassing that I've managed to
left out such an important piece of information. Thank you hawkeye at
GameFAQs.com for pointing it out.

* Updated REFORM at Chapter 6: Going out by adding information on how more
apartments will become available as you advance through the game, and how
you can always get your previous apartments back.


28.05.2005
----------
* Updated Chapter 7: Your neighbourhood after getting an e-mail saying that
if you do not pick up your puppy's droppings - one of your neighbours will
eventually come out and yell at you.

* Updated the Q&A on how you can unlock new breeds by communicating with
another DS.

* Added a HINT to Chapter 6: Going out on how you can rotate and tilt items
by using the D-pad when looking at them on the top screen.


25.05.2005
----------
* Major update for the NETWORK section of Chapter 6: Going out! Thank you
Aaron (and his girlfriend) for helping me out :) Naturally, this name has
been added to my Credits (Special thanks).

* Thought that it might be nice to have a translation of the game's
available breeds - seeing that trying to figure out which one is what by
simply looking at the puppies may prove more difficult than you think.
This has been added to Chapter 2: Pick a Puppy and was borrowed from Titney
@ GameFAQs.com.

* Because Titney updated her Japanese Translation Guide yesterday by doing
some changes to the "Dog Character Summary" (personalities) - I've updated
this part of _my_ FAQ as well (again - Chapter 2: Pick a Puppy).

* The slider you'll see when recording a message (Chapter 5: Inventory)
isn't for adjusting the volume - but speed *oops* :)


19.05.2005
----------
* Found out that you can only go for a walk every 30 minutes, so this piece
of information has been added as a NOTE to Chapter 7: Going out.

* Updated information on the US-version (Chapter 11: Q&A).

* Updated information on the yellow bone and light bulb (Chapter 8:
Tricks).


13.05.2005
----------
* Two more personalities has been added to the list in Chapter 2: Pick a
Puppy.

* Added a Q&A about the Jack Russel Terrier.

* I can't believe I forgot to write down which Brush to use for,
respectively, short and long hair (Chapter 6: Going out)! Sorry about that.

* Apparently, the five starting breeds are not _everything_ that which
tells the three versions apart - but some items as well! Not all of the
150+ items are available in every version, so I added a small note on this
to the first Q&A.


07.05.2005
----------
* Dog Contest (Chapter 9: Competitions) is now finished! Enjoy entering and
(hopefully) winning this contest :)

* Puppy personalities added to Chapter 2: Pick a Puppy. Thanks again
Titney! And remember to check out her Japanese Guide @ GameFAQs.com, folks.

* Updated information on the Seesaw (now Swinging board) and Poles (Chapter
9: Competitions) as well as what is needed to advance to the next level (it
appears that you don't _have_ to come first after all - what matters is
whether you qualify for a price or not).

* Added information on how many puppies you can have at the Dog Hotel in
Chapter 6: Going out (five).

* Added a small piece of information at the end of Chapter 8: Tricks on why 
I haven't included any tricks in this FAQ and where to find some.

* Added a NOTE on flashing pools of pee and a puppy's territory to the "Pee
and Poop"-portion of Chapter 7: Your neighbourhood.

* Apparently - unlocking breeds is all about gathering enough Owner Points
(Chapter 10: System Options), which is not what I had heard at first. Thus,
the FAQ has been updated accordingly to this new information.

* Fixed a whole bunch of misspelled words throughout the FAQ and changed
the Seesaw to a Swinging board.

* Yay, Version 1.0! Now calm down everyone - this doesn't mean that the FAQ
will be discontinued :) It's just that I now consider it complete, with
everything that you need to know in order to fully enjoy this game. Any
future updates from here on will most likely only include polishing my
language and seeing that the information given is correct.

Thank you for making me come this far! :D Everyone reading this FAQ is my
source of inspiration to continue working on it.


03.05.2005
----------
* Ever had your puppy disappear from the screen only to return later -
without your interference? Now there's a Q&A for this particular event!

* Updated what the Time-category in Chapter 5: Inventory is all about and
also added two examples.

* Because of how people still ask me how they're suppose to be able to read
all the Japanese every now and then, I've made some changes throughout the
FAQ to make this more clear - like the CAPPED line above the Chapter Index.


1.05.2005
---------
* Another update for Chapter 9: Competitions! Read all about the Agility
Tournament :)

* Added a list of available items at the Goods Shop (Chapter 6: Going out).

* Updated information on Music (chapter 5: Inventory).

* Added information on how TITLE RECORDS work (Chapter 10: System Options).

* Added information on communicating with another DS (NETWORK in Chapter 6:
Going out).

* The timer which measures how much time you've spent with your puppy
(Chapter 4: Status) apparently measures "Touch Time".

* Titney added to my credits. She has written a _great_ translation guide
which can be found at GameFAQs.com. I'm using some of her material here :)


29.04.2005
----------
* Updated information on the "loose" presents in Chapter 7: Your
neighbourhood - you don't _touch_ them, as in use your stylus, in order to
pick them up, but rather stop your puppy by yanking the leash so that he/
she can pick it up for you!
I have also discovered that when drawing your route - you don't _have_ to
use the eraser in the upper left corner to re-draw it but can use the pen
itself as an eraser as well.

* Added information on Music in your inventory (Chapter 5: Inventory) - how
you can record your own private messages. Also wrote a more detailed
explanation on how to buy items (must've rushed through this part before).

* Added some more Japanese words to Chapter 4: Status.

* Added the five levels for each sport in Chapter 9: Competitions.

* Skimmed through the FAQ again to polish my language.

* Updated the Q&A a little.


28.04.2005
----------
* Polished the FAQ a bit (grammar and stuff), especially Chapter 2: Pick a
Puppy - again. Also, I forgot to tell you where to find the Athletic Hall
in Chapter 7: Your neighbourhood, so shame on me I guess ^^ Not that I
think it's _that_ hard to guess which building it is.

* Added information about fleas and the Japanese word for Dirty, all in
Chapter 4: Status.

* Small NOTE added to Chapter 9: Competitions about how are restricted to
two or three contests a day and that should you fail to qualify even for a
third place - you'll fall back one level (hasn't been 100% confirmed yet
though).

* Lastly, there's a new chapter: System Options. That's why these Updates
are now Chapter 12 instead of 11 - which is now Q&A instead.


26.04.2005
----------
* Updated information about stamina in Chapter 7: Your neighbourhood (how
the bar eventually grows the more you walk your puppy). Also added another
HINT for Chapter 8: Tricks (what to do if you see a yellow bone appear
while petting your puppy) and how you can feed the light bulb to your
puppy.

* Polished Chapter 2: Pick a Puppy. After knocking on the door at the
beginning of the game, you're presented with two choices - but I forgot to
explain _both_ of them ^^

* Chapter 9: Competitions has been updated as well! Read all about the Disc
Dog Tournament.


25.04.2005
----------
* Updated information about THE TRASHCAN (now known as GARBAGE) in Chapter
7: Your neighbourhood. I also added a piece on how to give your puppy a
bath at the end of Chapter 4: Status.