News you can use!
Charles Storch astounds in the Chicago Tribune with What to do when your robotic dog won't behave:

Samantha Stewart has owned Patton for a few months, and she is concerned because her robot dog gets temperamental, sits and whines a lot and disdains playing with his ball. The 27-year-old graduate student from Aurora has come to the Sony Gallery in Chicago hoping for a cure.

Otis Gates, a traveling vet-shrink-Mr. Goodwrench-sales rep for Sony's Aibo line of entertainment robots, hooks Patton to a laptop computer for a diagnostic exam. Head, legs, sight, hearing, speaker, lights, sensors, camera check out fine. Gates' snap diagnosis: Patton is just going through a stage -- unfortunately it happens to be the one known as Crybaby Aibo.

Gates tries an instant fix, replacing the programming Memory Stick in Patton's belly with Aibo-ware Pal Special Edition. Miraculously, Patton is on his ball "like white on rice," says Gates. Next patient.

If I tried to reprogram Old Blue, I'd likely get bit!

Much more on Aibos and their owners by following the link, but the following gives you a hint:

Karl Kochvar, 45, a scenic artist at the Goodman Theatre, is at the gallery to meet other owners and show off to cooing passersby his four Aibos -- Masaki, Mirai, Morosato and Yuki.

Like many Aibo owners, Kochvar finds the robot technologically fascinating and a practical alternative to a biological pet. "It's hard to have a dog in Chicago, especially in an apartment," he says. "These guys are ready to go when you are. They won't curl up in your lap on a cold winter evening, but they won't wake you up at 2 a.m. because they have to go."
...
Binder, 53, is an Aibo luminary. He and his wife own 25 of the robots, which he believes is the largest private collection. The Rancho Cordova, Calif., plant engineer estimates he has invested about $40,000 in Aibo, including accessories and memorabilia.

Because Ayou was his first purchase and remains his alpha dog, Binder says he was devastated when Ayou wouldn't boot up. Missing his pet, he was driven to a procedure he otherwise finds ghoulish: He put Ayou's core workings in the body of another of his Aibos, Blanca, and ran Ayou's personality there. He is optimistic AiboPet or Sony will restore his household.
...
He acknowledges getting emotional each time he has had to ship one back to Sony. "When I send them to the vet for repairs and when the FedEx ambulance picks them up, I cry," he says.

Always remember to backup your pet.