A dog in Nintendogs only "needs" a few minutes at most - enough time to be fed and watered. Taking the dog for a walk is a variable length of time because the longer you have the dog, the more stamina it builds up, hence the longer the walks can get. However, you don't ever have to take the dog for the maximum length of walk.
Walks are also of variable length because you may want to go to the park to practice throwing & catching frisbees for contests, or running through the assault course for agility trials. This adds something like 10-15 minutes onto a walk if you stay in the park for the maximum time. Also you'll want to visit the Discount Shops in the town, as they can be considerably cheaper than the at-home shopping, and they have items you can't buy at home.
There are always ways to cheat by changing the time on the DS clock - this is actually a pretty good way of saving money in Nintendogs if you're "behind" and don't like the idea of the virtual pet being starving. Simply feed & water the dog then set the clock 23 hours later, boot up the game and save, and repeat. Nintendogs has some way of telling how much time has elapsed since you last fed the dog, but it doesn't necessarily relate that to the real clock. Um, it's hard to explain. Put it this way - if you REALLY leave the game for 23 hours, the dog will be starving - but if you simply set the clock forward 23 hours immediately after playing, it'll be fine.
Another game you might want is Animal Crossing Wild World, which is one of my obsessions. The microsite does a fairly good job of explaining how it works. Here's a player's diary of the game. I was pretty sure there's a diary or journal on nintendo.com, but I can't find it now.
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Walks are also of variable length because you may want to go to the park to practice throwing & catching frisbees for contests, or running through the assault course for agility trials. This adds something like 10-15 minutes onto a walk if you stay in the park for the maximum time. Also you'll want to visit the Discount Shops in the town, as they can be considerably cheaper than the at-home shopping, and they have items you can't buy at home.
There are always ways to cheat by changing the time on the DS clock - this is actually a pretty good way of saving money in Nintendogs if you're "behind" and don't like the idea of the virtual pet being starving. Simply feed & water the dog then set the clock 23 hours later, boot up the game and save, and repeat. Nintendogs has some way of telling how much time has elapsed since you last fed the dog, but it doesn't necessarily relate that to the real clock. Um, it's hard to explain. Put it this way - if you REALLY leave the game for 23 hours, the dog will be starving - but if you simply set the clock forward 23 hours immediately after playing, it'll be fine.
Another game you might want is Animal Crossing Wild World, which is one of my obsessions. The microsite does a fairly good job of explaining how it works. Here's a player's diary of the game. I was pretty sure there's a diary or journal on nintendo.com, but I can't find it now.