[Dog-assisted therapy: clinical evidence and current challenges]

Dog-assisted therapy (DAT) represents a therapeutic intervention modality in which the interaction between patients and trained dogs is purposefully and systematically incorporated, with the aim of promoting improvements in physical, emotional, cognitive, and social variables. DAT has seen a significant increase in its implementation across clinical, educational, and community settings, alongside conceptual frameworks that support its integration into interdisciplinary therapeutic models. This article presents a systematic review of the scientific literature on the effectiveness of DAT across different populations and pathologies. A search was conducted in specialized databases, identifying a total of 46 studies that met the inclusion criteria. These included controlled clinical trials, retrospective studies, historical records, and systematic reviews. The included studies addressed interventions in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders, neurological diseases, chronic pain, intellectual disabilities, psychiatric disorders, and non-communicable chronic diseases. The findings suggest clinically significant benefits, including reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms, improvements in socialization, cognitive stimulation, decreased perceived pain, and increased motivation for treatment adherence. However, important methodological limitations were also identified, such as small sample sizes, limited standardization of interventions, lack of longitudinal follow-up, and difficulties in the objective evaluation of outcomes. Current challenges include the need for specialized professional training, interdisciplinary coordination, regulatory frameworks, and the validation of evidence-based protocols.