Nintendogs problem

My son has a Gameboy Advance DS and has recently purchased the
Nintendogs game. When he runs it, the "Go outside", and "Supplies"
menu item icons are missing. We have tried two different Nintendogs
games and they both have the same problem. We've tried playing the
game for a while, recording the dog's name, and still no icons. All
other games work fine. What are we doing wrong?

Thanks,
Ed