Virtual Pets

Pets are creatures kept for companionship and enjoyment. While this term is currently reserved for animals, I believe that we may soon see people having virtual pets. There are already many games and programs that allow you to have a virtual aquarium, or to take care of a creature like Tamagotchi. What current games miss is the lack of sufficient intelligence of in-game creatures such as real dogs or other real pets have. Dogs may not seem that smart for people who never had a dog, but I am sure that dog owners know what I am talking about. Sometimes dogs can surprise with their intelligence, and this is something what artificial intelligence should aim for. Will it be an easy task? I do not think so, however, we have a lot of time to develop such technology.