Introduction: It has been shown that guide dogs increase the physical activity and social interaction of their partners with visual impairments (Yamamoto et al., 2015; Whitmarsh, 2005). However, most guide dog training schools do not provide guide dogs to children. Thus, this study examined whether pet dogs can offer children with visual impairments benefits similar to those from guide dogs.
Methodology: Questionnaires were sent to children attending special schools and answered with the help of their parents. Children staying at student residences were excluded. To gather data on physical activity, the Japanese version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used. The number of close friends, the weekly frequency of leaving home (besides going to school), interactions with adults and children besides family members outside of school, dog ownership, and dog walking were also included in the questionnaire.
Main results: Of 139 respondents (response rate: 30.4%; males: 100; mean age: 11.4 years), 45.3% had multiple disabilities, and among them 25.4% had orthopedic impairments besides visual impairments. Twenty-three (16.5%) lived with a dog, and 11 (47.8%) answered that they go for walks with their dogs. Dog ownership and going for walks with dogs made no difference to physical activity (mean METs.mins/week ± S.E., living with dog: 1113.0 ± 272.0; no dog: 945.9 ± 116.3; going for walks with dogs: 816.9 ± 450.4; not going for walks with dogs: 974.7 ± 109.5). There were also no statistical differences in social interaction among the above groups.
Principal Conclusions and Implications for Field: The results showed that neither living with a dog nor going for walks with dogs influenced children’s physical activity or social interaction. These findings indicate that pet dogs do not provide effects similar to those reported from guide dogs. Guide dogs’ special features, such as their assistance and public access, may be important for gaining the effects rather than just living with dogs. A future study will target children attending special classrooms in regular schools, who may have less-severe disabilities. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 17K13889.