Therapeutic dogs ("pet assisted therapy") have been used in some countries, in cardiology, autism and geriatrics.

It is known that people who own a pet have a smaller incidence of illness, but, except for few sparse studies, this issue has received very little attention in psychiatry.

To study the usage of therapeutic dogs as co-therapy for depression and anxiety in a psychiatric day hospital.

The study consisted of twice weekly sessions of 20 + 10 minutes each, during 6 weeks. First, patients were asked to give instructions and interplay with a dog specifically trained for this activity, under supervision of a psychiatrist. Afterwards, patients walked the dog, giving sets of instructions. Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS) and Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HARS) were recorded, for each patient, at the beginning, at the end of the third, and end of the sixth week. A questionnaire was administered at the end.

Ten patients were enrolled. There was a decrease in HDRS and HARS scores (HDRS mean at beginning 26; at 6 weeks: 13,4; HARS at beginning 24,7; at 6 weeks: 15,7). However, results are hard to interpret; Patients were under other therapies (pharmacological, psychotherapy…); the study enrolled a heterogeneous group of patients, with different diagnoses, making interpretation difficult.

Therapeutic dogs can be useful as co-therapy for depression and anxiety, but results must be validated in larger, randomised controlled studies. This approach may improve aspects such as self-confidence, basic affective skills and group cohesion.