That trend has come over North America. The toy comes out of the box as an insecure puppy. It howls when it's left in the dark, and barks when it's happy. The more love a child gives it, by patting it on various sensors and feeding it a toy bone, the better adjusted it becomes. Fisher Price has a slightly more sophisticated dog.
Older kids can train the toy to respond to a series of voice commands.
Most of the robotic dogs can also sense others of their kind. Two Teknos, for example, will interact with each other. TMA's Bartlett says she was at a show where there was a little girl playing with one of these dogs. A child falls in love with a toy if they can create a relationship with it. If you think about what toys you loved when you were a child the special ones were those that you had an emotional bond with.