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Animals
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Human–Animal Interaction: Animal Behaviour and Whole-Person Health in Animal-Assisted Interventions
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Human–Animal Interaction: Animal Behaviour and Whole-Person Health in Animal-Assisted Interventions

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Human-Animal Interactions, Animal Behaviour and Emotion".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 4547

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Meredith L. Stensland

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Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
Interests: animal-assisted interventions; aging; chronic pain in older adults; treatment adherence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Animal-assisted interventions are increasingly being utilized as a non-pharmacological approach to help meet the physical, psychological, and social needs of individuals. Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs), which is an umbrella term encompassing both animal-assisted therapy and animal-assisted activities, are defined by the International Association of Human–Animal Interaction Organizations as “goal oriented and structured interventions that intentionally include or incorporate animals in health, education and human services (e.g., social work) for the purpose of therapeutic gains in humans”. In recent years, the health benefits of AAIs for humans have received increasing attention. The aim of this Special Issue, however, is to highlight the experience of the animal within this human–animal interaction context.

This Special Issue invites contributions that explore a broad spectrum of topics related to animal experience and animal behaviours within the context of human–animal interaction, including, but not limited to, animal behaviours, emotions, cognition, communication, character, stimulus response, gazing, and stress reactions. This Special Issue welcomes research on the human–animal bond within various human populations spanning the life course, including children through older adults, as well as diverse animal species.

The focus of this Special Issue is on research that rigorously investigates the potential benefits (or risks) for the animals involved. We especially encourage submissions that assess both short- and long-term impacts on animal welfare, agency, and quality of life—emphasizing outcomes that move beyond anthropocentric frameworks and contribute to a more reciprocal understanding of interspecies relationships. Additionally, articles will be accepted that pertain to mechanistic biomarkers underpinning human–animal interactions (in animals or animals and humans) and methodological considerations for AAI implementation.

Article types: This Special Issue seeks original research articles, though review papers and commentaries will also be accepted.

If your research focuses more on the human outcomes rather than animal outcomes, please consider submitting to our Joint Special Issue in Healthcare.

Dr. Meredith L. Stensland
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • animal-assisted intervention
  • whole-person health
  • human–animal bond
  • animal behaviour

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 664 KB  
Article
Establishing Behavioural Thresholds for Dogs in Animal-Assisted Services: Expert-Derived Thresholds and Field Study Comparison
by E. Kathalijne Visser, Anna L. Jens, Peter van Honk, Mariska van Asselt and Sandra C. Haven-Pross
Animals 2026, 16(7), 1078; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16071078 - 1 Apr 2026
Viewed by 453
Abstract
Animal-Assisted Services (AASs) are increasingly used in therapeutic, educational, and supportive contexts, raising growing concern for the welfare of the dogs involved. This study assessed dogs’ affective states during AAS sessions by establishing expert-derived behavioural thresholds and comparing these with field observations. Thirteen [...] Read more.
Animal-Assisted Services (AASs) are increasingly used in therapeutic, educational, and supportive contexts, raising growing concern for the welfare of the dogs involved. This study assessed dogs’ affective states during AAS sessions by establishing expert-derived behavioural thresholds and comparing these with field observations. Thirteen experts in canine behaviour, health, welfare, and AAS evaluated 19 behaviours across 11 fictional scenarios using an absolute scoring approach. Expert ratings were used to derive lower and upper frequency thresholds distinguishing excellent, neutral, and unacceptable welfare for behaviours associated with positive- or negative-affective states. Field data were collected over a two-month period from 837 AAS sessions involving 63 dogs, scored by trained professionals using the same ethogram. Stress-related behaviours were generally within the expert-defined acceptable ranges, although some dogs exceeded the upper thresholds for behaviours such as low posture or sniffing. In contrast, positive-affective behaviours—including play, voluntary lying down, and broad tail wagging—were observed infrequently and often fell below the expert-defined minimum thresholds. These findings suggest that while overt stress indicators are largely managed in AAS practice, opportunities for dogs to express positive-affective states may be limited. Integrating expert-derived behavioural thresholds into welfare monitoring may support evidence-based standards and safeguard canine welfare in AASs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human–Animal Interaction: Animal Behaviour and Whole-Person Health in Animal-Assisted Interventions)
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27 pages, 952 KB  
Article
Dogs’ Behavioural Responses to Dog-Assisted Interventions: A Field Study
by Sandra C. Haven-Pross, Anna L. Jens, Kyra N. Maarleveld, Peter van Honk, Manon de Kort and E. Kathalijne Visser
Animals 2026, 16(7), 1063; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16071063 - 31 Mar 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 573
Abstract
Animal-assisted services (AASs) are increasingly integrated into healthcare, education, and social support settings. However, empirical evidence on the emotional well-being of participating dogs remains limited. This study investigates how dog, session, handler, and client factors influence dogs’ affective states during animal-assisted activities (AAAs), [...] Read more.
Animal-assisted services (AASs) are increasingly integrated into healthcare, education, and social support settings. However, empirical evidence on the emotional well-being of participating dogs remains limited. This study investigates how dog, session, handler, and client factors influence dogs’ affective states during animal-assisted activities (AAAs), education (AAE), coaching (AAC), and therapy (AAT). A total of 837 sessions involving 63 dogs and 30 handlers were observed, with behavioural scoring and statistical analyses used to analyse the data. Principal Component Analysis then identified key affective components, including playfulness, comfort, anxiety, and uncertainty, which explained 45–61% of the variance. Session circumstances, as well as the characteristics of handlers, clients, and individual dogs—including age, experience, and gender—significantly influenced dogs’ responses. Specifically, older dogs were less playful but more settled, while experience was linked to positive affect in AAAs and AAT, but not in AAC. Female dogs demonstrated increased uncertainty and arousal in AAAs and AAE. The impact of session length varied by context. In AAC, unfamiliar handlers increased tension. Additionally, younger clients were associated with heightened uncertainty or tension in dogs across AAAs, AAC, and AAE. In light of these findings, optimising dog welfare requires matching dogs to suitable roles, attentive session planning, and managing workload. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human–Animal Interaction: Animal Behaviour and Whole-Person Health in Animal-Assisted Interventions)
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18 pages, 901 KB  
Article
Well-Being Indicators in Autistic Children and Therapy Dogs During a Group Intervention: A Pilot Study
by Viviana Orsola Giuliano, Luigi Sacchettino, Alina Simona Rusu, Davide Ciccarelli, Valentina Gazzano, Martina de Cesare, Michele Visone, Vincenzo Mizzoni, Francesco Napolitano and Danila d’Angelo
Animals 2025, 15(14), 2032; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15142032 - 10 Jul 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2798
Abstract
Animal-assisted services (AAS) have been shown in multiple studies to improve a range of human psychological and physical health benefits. The aim of this pilot study is to investigate simultaneously two psycho-physiological indicators of the valence of interactions in the context of dog-assisted [...] Read more.
Animal-assisted services (AAS) have been shown in multiple studies to improve a range of human psychological and physical health benefits. The aim of this pilot study is to investigate simultaneously two psycho-physiological indicators of the valence of interactions in the context of dog-assisted activities in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Ten children and four dogs experienced in AAS were involved, lasting 90 days, in weekly one-hour sessions. Before and after each session, saliva was taken in both dogs and children for determination of salivary oxytocin and cortisol levels. In addition, at the end of the program, a questionnaire was administered to both parents and dog handlers to assess the impact of AAS in children and dogs. Our results revealed no statistically significant change in cortisol and oxytocin levels in dogs enrolled throughout the sessions, while an increasing trend was noted for salivary oxytocin in 50% of the dogs and for salivary cortisol in all dogs at the end of the AAS, when compared to the pre-AAS. Salivary cortisol measurement in children with an autistic neurotype highlighted a statistically significant increase at the end of the AAS when compared to the pre-AAS, but this was not observed for oxytocin level evaluations. Regarding the perception of the children’s parents about the effects of the program, our data reported an improvement in sociability of the children in 100 percent of the cases. Furthermore, dog handlers reported an absence of signs of stress in their dogs during the sessions. Although the perceived effectiveness and quality of AAS has been demonstrated in the literature, the need to carefully select the dogs involved, considering their skills and needs, is critical to ensure their well-being in various therapeutic settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human–Animal Interaction: Animal Behaviour and Whole-Person Health in Animal-Assisted Interventions)
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