ArticleAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2022
Handlers' Representations on Therapy Dogs' Welfare.
Article in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Canine-assisted therapy in reducing stress and anxiety levels of university students: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Pooled it
- Preparing Therapy Dogs for Animal-Assisted Services: Governance, Welfare-Centred Preparation, and a Lifecycle Research Agenda Across Selected European and United States Frameworks.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- Establishing Behavioural Thresholds for Dogs in Animal-Assisted Services: Expert-Derived Thresholds and Field Study Comparison.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Dogs' Behavioural Responses to Dog-Assisted Interventions: A Field Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Behavioral Predictors of Adolescent Anxiety During Therapy Dog Interactions Within an Experimental Setting.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exploring Interaction Dynamics in Dog-Assisted Therapy: An Observational Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Animal healer for refractory diseases: Myth or reality?Heliyon · 2024Review
- Guidance on Minimum Standards for Canine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Adolescent Mental Health: Delphi Expert Consensus on Health, Safety, and Canine Welfare.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
While research on the benefits of animal-assisted interventions is beginning to build a significant body of work, studies on the well-being of therapy dogs are still in their infancy. Since handlers are the people responsible for their therapy dog's welfare, we interviewed 111 French handlers through an online questionnaire. Our results underlined that (i) therapy dogs' welfare is multidimensional when physical and psychological welfare, a balance between work and dog life and the settings and interactions of sessions are all taken into consideration. (ii) The response of our handlers emphasized that considering therapy dog welfare is important for the quality and safety of AAI. (iii) Three categories of risks factors were highlighted: the spatio-temporal framework (planning and environment), the interactions with beneficiaries and the handler themselves. It is particularly important that handlers talk about the negative impact of interactions with beneficiaries since they are at the heart of AAI, however there are few studies focusing on interactions as a stressor for dogs in this practice. Moreover, since there is a potential for positive bias in the handlers' representations, it is important that they be trained to identify and manage the stress in their dogs. Future research is particularly needed on the impact of interactions during sessions on therapy dog welfare.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.