The Importance of Client–Canine Contact in Canine-Assisted Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Researchers have claimed that canine-assisted interventions (CAIs) contribute significantly to bolstering participants' wellbeing, yet the mechanisms within interactions have received little empirical attention. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of client–canine contact on wellbeing outcomes in a sample of 284 undergraduate college students (77% female; 21% male, 2% non-binary). Participants self-selected to participate and were randomly assigned to one of two canine interaction treatment conditions (touch or no touch) or to a handler-only condition with no therapy dog present. To assess self-reports of wellbeing, measures of flourishing, positive and negative affect, social connectedness, happiness, integration into the campus community, stress, homesickness, and loneliness were administered. Exploratory analyses were conducted to assess whether these wellbeing measures could be considered as measuring a unidimensional construct. This included both reliability analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Based on the results of these analyses we created a composite measure using participant scores on a latent factor. We then conducted the tests of the four hypotheses using these factor scores. Results indicate that participants across all conditions experienced enhanced wellbeing on several measures; however, only those in the direct contact condition reported significant improvements on all measures of wellbeing. Additionally, direct interactions with therapy dogs through touch elicited greater wellbeing benefits than did no touch/indirect interactions or interactions with only a dog handler. Similarly, analyses using scores on the wellbeing factor indicated significant improvement in wellbeing across all conditions (handler-only, d = 0.18, p = 0.041; indirect, d = 0.38, p < 0.001; direct, d = 0.78, p < 0.001), with more benefit when a dog was present (d = 0.20, p < 0.001), and the most benefit coming from physical contact with the dog (d = 0.13, p = 0.002). The findings hold implications for post-secondary wellbeing programs as well as the organization and delivery of CAIs.