Multi-site Animal Assisted Intervention for Children With DD and Their Family Dog (DAID)

The Evaluation of a Multi-site Imitation Based Animal Assisted Intervention for Children With Developmental Disabilities and Their Family Dog

The study purpose is to evaluate a novel multidisciplinary approach to fostering a therapeutic partnership between the participants with developmental disabilities and the participants family dog. This will culminate in an Animal Assisted Intervention aimed at increasing activity levels, enhancing social support, and increasing feeling of responsibility and wellbeing within this population.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Physical Activity; Social Wellbeing
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Do As I Do (DAID) dog training

Detailed Description

The goal of this proposal is to evaluate a large scale novel multidisciplinary approach to fostering atherapeutic partnership between adolescents with developmental disabilities (DD) and the participants family dog. The investigators will evaluate imitative 'Do As I Do' (DAID) training into a unique Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) aimed at increasing activity levels, enhancing social support by promoting a stronger dog-human bond, and increasing feelings of responsibility and wellbeing within this population.

The investigators propose to address the critical need for empirical evaluation of novel theoretically based multi-site animal assisted interventions through the following specific aims.

Specific Aim 1: To evaluate a novel multi-site DAID dog training intervention to promote physical activity in adolescents with developmental disabilities.

Specific Aim 2: To evaluate the impact of a multi-site DAID intervention on the adolescent's quality of life and feelings of social wellbeing.

Specific Aim 3: To evaluate the impact of a multi-site DAID intervention on the child-dog relationship and mutual wellbeing.

Participant Population: Adolescent participants with a developmental disability, between the ages of 10-17 years will be recruited through community-based programs/organizations associated with children with DDs in around our sites. A DD will be confirmed through parent report (e.g., initial recruitment conversations, and documented through the initial demographic questionnaire).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Oregon
    • Corvallis, Oregon, United States, 97331
      • Oregon State University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years to 17 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 10-17 years
• Developmental disability (per parental report)
• Possesses family dog
• Participant can follow basis instructions.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cannot follow basic instructions.
• Non english-speakers.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: DAID dog training; 'Do As I Do' (DAID) dog training employs operant conditioning to train dogs to copy the behavior of their owner upon hearing the verbal cue 'Do it', similar to teaching a dog the rules behind the game 'Simon Says'. Once this rule has been established and generalized, something that can be achieved in dogs by practicing with only 3-6 initially learned behaviors, owners can demonstrate new actions and use the cue 'Do it' to prompt a matched, imitative, behavioral response.	Behavioral: Do As I Do (DAID) dog training; Children and their family dog will participate in this dog training program.
No Intervention: Control; No intervention (waitlisted and will be provided with the experimental condition post-study completion).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Physical Activity	Physical activity will be measure through accelerometry.	One year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Social well-being	Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory	One year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Oregon State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Megan MacDonald, Oregon State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 4, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 11, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 11, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): March 16, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 18, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 14, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Motor Activity
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-2020-0816

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Due to the age range of the participants and targeted sample of children with disabilities as well as the small sample size (N=100), data will not be uploaded to NIH sharing tools.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No