Previous studies suggest that contact with dogs can positively affect the wellbeing of elderly people in nursing homes, but there is a lack of research investigating the causal pathways of these effects. One such pathway may relate to the behavioral responses of the elderly when interacting with a dog. The present study compared the immediate behavioral responses of nursing home residents to biweekly visits from a person accompanied by either a dog, a robot seal (PARO ®), or a soft toy cat, using a randomized controlled design. A total of 100 nursing home residents completed the study. Each participant received a total of 12 visits, during which their behaviors, including interactions between the visitor and the accompanying animal (real or artificial), were recorded. Also, data on cognitive impairment, presence of depressive symptoms, age, time lived in the nursing home, dementia diagnoses, and gender were collected. We found that the immediate responses to, and interaction with, the visiting animal depended on the type of animal that was brought along. The dog and the interactive robot seal triggered the most interaction, in the form of physical contact (F (2,103) = 7.50, p < 0.001), eye contact (F (4,151) = 6.26, p < 0.001), and verbal communication (F (4,195) = 2.87, p < 0.05). As well, the cognitive impairment level of the residents affected with whom they interacted. The higher the cognitive impairment level, the more interaction was directed toward the animal and less toward humans, regardless of visit type (F (2,101) = 4.10, p < 0.05). The dogs and the robot seal stimulated the residents to more interaction, compared with the toy cat, but the robot seal failed to maintain the

Background: Previous studies have suggested that visiting dogs can have positive effects on elderly people in nursing homes. We wanted to study the effects of biweekly dog visits on sleep patterns and the psychiatric wellbeing of elderly people. Methods: A total of 100 residents (median age: 85.5 years; [79; 90]) from four nursing homes were randomly assigned to receive biweekly visits for 6 weeks from a person accompanied by either a dog, a robot seal (PARO), or a soft toy cat. Sleep patterns were measured using actigraphy technology before, during (the third and sixth week), and after the series of visits. The participants were weighed and scored on the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Gottfries-Bråne-Steen Scale, and the Mini-Mental State Examination before and after the visit period. Results: We found that sleep duration (min) increased in the third week when visitors were accompanied by a dog rather than the robot seal or soft toy cat (dog: 610 1 127 min; seal: 498 1 146 min; cat: 540 1 163 min; F 2,37 = 4.99; P = 0.01). No effects were found in the sixth week or after the visit period had ended. We found that visit type had no effect on weight (F 2,88 = 0.13; P > 0.05), body mass index (F 2,86 = 0.33; P > 0.05), Geriatric Depression Scale (F 2,82 = 0.85; P > 0.05), Gottfries-Bråne-Steen Scale (F2,90 = 0.41; P > 0.05), or Mini-Mental State Examination (F 2,91 = 0.35; P > 0.05). Furthermore, we found a decrease in the Geriatric Depression Scale during the experimental period (S = −420; P < 0.05), whereas cognitive impairment worsened as shown by a decrease in Mini-Mental State Examination score (S = −483; P < 0.05) and an increase in the Gottfries-Bråne-Steen Scale (t = 2.06; P < 0.05). Conclusion: Visit type did not affect the long-term mental state of the participants. The causal relationship between sleep duration and dogaccompanied visits remains to be explored.

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