Physical ActivityDAIDNCT04799119
Multi-site Animal Assisted Intervention for Children With DD and Their Family Dog
A study testing Do As I Do (DAID) dog training in people with Physical Activity and Social Wellbeing, run by Oregon State University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The study purpose is to evaluate a novel multidisciplinary approach to fostering a therapeutic partnership between the participants with developmental disabilities and the participants family dog. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 10 to 17 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Physical Activity, Social Wellbeing
- What is being tested?
- Do As I Do (DAID) dog training
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 100 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 4 Feb 2021to 1 Aug 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 10 to 17 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- Age 10-17 years
- Developmental disability (per parental report)
- Possesses family dog
- Participant can follow basis instructions.
Who cannot join
- Cannot follow basic instructions.
- Non english-speakers.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: The Evaluation of a Multi-site Imitation Based Animal Assisted Intervention for Children With Developmental Disabilities and Their Family Dog
The study purpose is to evaluate a novel multidisciplinary approach to fostering a therapeutic partnership between the participants with developmental disabilities and the participants family dog. This will culminate in an Animal Assisted Intervention aimed at increasing activity levels, enhancing social support, and increasing feeling of responsibility and wellbeing within this population.
Read the detailed description
The goal of this proposal is to evaluate a large scale novel multidisciplinary approach to fostering atherapeutic partnership between adolescents with developmental disabilities (DD) and the participants family dog. The investigators will evaluate imitative 'Do As I Do' (DAID) training into a unique Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) aimed at increasing activity levels, enhancing social support by promoting a stronger dog-human bond, and increasing feelings of responsibility and wellbeing within this population.
The investigators propose to address the critical need for empirical evaluation of novel theoretically based multi-site animal assisted interventions through the following specific aims.
Specific Aim 1: To evaluate a novel multi-site DAID dog training intervention to promote physical activity in adolescents with developmental disabilities.
Specific Aim 2: To evaluate the impact of a multi-site DAID intervention on the adolescent's quality of life and feelings of social wellbeing.
Specific Aim 3: To evaluate the impact of a multi-site DAID intervention on the child-dog relationship and mutual wellbeing.
Participant Population: Adolescent participants with a developmental disability, between the ages of 10-17 years will be recruited through community-based programs/organizations associated with children with DDs in around our sites. A DD will be confirmed through parent report (e.g., initial recruitment conversations, and documented through the initial demographic questionnaire).
- Conditions
- Physical Activity, Social Wellbeing
- Being tested
- Do As I Do (DAID) dog training
- Medical subject headings
- Motor Activity
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Do As I Do (DAID) dog trainingBehavioural
Children and their family dog will participate in this dog training program.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| DAID dog training | Experimental | 'Do As I Do' (DAID) dog training employs operant conditioning to train dogs to copy the behavior of their owner upon hearing the verbal cue 'Do it', similar to teaching a dog the rules behind the game 'Simon Says'. Once this rule has been established and generalized, something that can be achieved in dogs by practicing with only 3-6 initially learned behaviors, owners can demonstrate new actions and use the cue 'Do it' to prompt a matched, imitative, behavioral response. Receives: Behavioral: Do As I Do (DAID) dog training |
| Control | No intervention | No intervention (waitlisted and will be provided with the experimental condition post-study completion). |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Physical Activity
Physical activity will be measure through accelerometry.
Measured: One year
Secondary outcomes (1)
Social well-being
Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory
Measured: One year
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted16 Mar 2021
- Study start4 Feb 2021
- Primary completion1 Aug 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion1 Aug 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Physical ActivityStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Randomized control trial experimental/treatment group and control.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Oregon State University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Megan MacDonald, Oregon State University
- Investigators
- Megan MacDonald, Principal investigator, Oregon State University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04799119
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- IRB-2020-0816
- Acronym
- DAID
- Status last verified
- Nov 2025
- First submitted
- 11 Mar 2021
- Last updated
- 18 Nov 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: Due to the age range of the participants and targeted sample of children with disabilities as well as the small sample size (N=100), data will not be uploaded to NIH sharing tools.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 18 Nov 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Evaluation of a Multi-site Imitation Based Animal Assisted Intervention for Children With Developmental Disabilities and Their Family Dog
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04799119
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- DAID / IRB-2020-0816
- Conditions
- Physical Activity, Social Wellbeing
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Oregon State UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 4 Feb 2021 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Aug 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 1 Aug 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 16 Mar 2021 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The study purpose is to evaluate a novel multidisciplinary approach to fostering a therapeutic partnership between the participants with developmental disabilities and the participants family dog. This will culminate in an Animal Assisted Intervention aimed at increasing activity levels, enhancing social support, and increasing feeling of responsibility and wellbeing within this population.
Detailed description
The goal of this proposal is to evaluate a large scale novel multidisciplinary approach to fostering atherapeutic partnership between adolescents with developmental disabilities (DD) and the participants family dog. The investigators will evaluate imitative 'Do As I Do' (DAID) training into a unique Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) aimed at increasing activity levels, enhancing social support by promoting a stronger dog-human bond, and increasing feelings of responsibility and wellbeing within this population.
The investigators propose to address the critical need for empirical evaluation of novel theoretically based multi-site animal assisted interventions through the following specific aims.
Specific Aim 1: To evaluate a novel multi-site DAID dog training intervention to promote physical activity in adolescents with developmental disabilities.
Specific Aim 2: To evaluate the impact of a multi-site DAID intervention on the adolescent's quality of life and feelings of social wellbeing.
Specific Aim 3: To evaluate the impact of a multi-site DAID intervention on the child-dog relationship and mutual wellbeing.
Participant Population: Adolescent participants with a developmental disability, between the ages of 10-17 years will be recruited through community-based programs/organizations associated with children with DDs in around our sites. A DD will be confirmed through parent report (e.g., initial recruitment conversations, and documented through the initial demographic questionnaire).
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Randomized control trial experimental/treatment group and control.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| DAID dog training | Experimental | Behavioral: Do As I Do (DAID) dog training'Do As I Do' (DAID) dog training employs operant conditioning to train dogs to copy the behavior of their owner upon hearing the verbal cue 'Do it', similar to teaching a dog the rules behind the game 'Simon Says'. Once this rule has been established and generalized, something that can be achieved in dogs by practicing with only 3-6 initially learned behaviors, owners can demonstrate new actions and use the cue 'Do it' to prompt a matched, imitative, behavioral response. |
| Control | No intervention | –No intervention (waitlisted and will be provided with the experimental condition post-study completion). |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 10 to 17 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- Age 10-17 years
- Developmental disability (per parental report)
- Possesses family dog
- Participant can follow basis instructions.
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Cannot follow basic instructions.
- Non english-speakers.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Do As I Do (DAID) dog trainingChildren and their family dog will participate in this dog training program. | Behavioural | DAID dog training |
Primary outcome
Physical Activity
Time frame: One year
Physical activity will be measure through accelerometry.
1 secondary outcome
Social well-being
Time frame: One year
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 18 Nov 2025.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. Due to the age range of the participants and targeted sample of children with disabilities as well as the small sample size (N=100), data will not be uploaded to NIH sharing tools.
Related trials for Physical Activity
Recruiting
THE EFFECTS OF GAME-BASED EXERCISE PROGRAMS
Physical Activity, Body Image
Not yet recruiting
Feasibility of a Robot-Guided Active Play Intervention for Children With Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral Palsy
Enrolling by invitation
Online Exercise Program for Transplant Patients: A Pilot Study
Kidney Transplantation, Physical Function
Recruiting
Effect of a Brief Daily Digital Meditation on Well-Being in US Young Adults (BEGIN II)
Mental Health and General Well-being
RecruitingPhase 4
The Effects of Ferric Derisomaltose in Patients With Acute Heart Failure and Iron Deficiency on Exercise Capacity and Quality of Life(COREVIVE-HFrEF)
Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction, Iron Deficiency
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Megan MacDonald principal investigator
Oregon State University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Do As I Do (DAID) dog training in people with Physical Activity and Social Wellbeing, run by Oregon State University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Nov 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Physical Activity (time frame: One year). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Nov 2025.