An Animal-Assisted Physiotherapy Intervention with a Rehabilitation Dog for Walking and Balance Training: A Case Series of Children Living with Cerebral Palsy.

Only four children were studied, and all had cerebral palsy classified as GMFCS I or II, so the results do not apply to children with more limited walking ability. There was no separate control group or random allocation, so natural variation, the therapist, the harness, the dog, and the eight-week program cannot be separated. The Kids Mini BESTest requires standing and walking tasks, so the study does not address non-ambulatory children. The dog's own needs, fatigue, heat, distraction, and handler availability could change each session and limit consistency. Trained rehabilitation dogs are limited, and access to specialized service dogs can be extremely challenging.

Funding came from a Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation Collaborative Innovation Development Grant, the Branch Out Neurological Foundation Graduate Scholarship, the Saskatchewan Center for Patient Oriented Research PhD Scholarship, and the College of Medicine Health Sciences Program at the University of Saskatchewan. The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Fondation Mira trained the dog and trained the physiotherapist handler.

Do not conclude that a rehabilitation dog alone improves walking or balance in cerebral palsy. The children received an individualized eight-week physiotherapy program with a trained handler, a harness, and the dog, and only four children were studied, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.