Canine Assisted Occupational Therapy for Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Pilot Randomised Control Trial.

Hill et al. (2020) tested if adding a trained dog to OT sessions helps young autistic kids. The children were preschool or early elementary age. Half got regular OT. Half got OT with a therapy dog lying beside them.

The team watched for on-task behavior and checked parent-set goals. The study was a pilot, so the group was small.

Kids stayed on task a bit more when the dog was there, but the gain was tiny and could be chance. Parents liked the goals met, yet the numbers did not beat the regular OT group.

In short, the dog made sessions more fun, but clear skill jumps were not proven.

Cramm et al. (2009) and Danitz et al. (2014) got stronger results with horses. Their autistic riders showed clear social and goal gains after weeks of riding. The dog study looks weaker, but the dose was shorter and the dog stayed still, while the horses moved and gave deep pressure.

Parrella et al. (2026) tried CBD oil in a similar small RCT. Like the dog study, they saw only quiet hints of benefit, not big wins. These pilot trials tell the same story: new add-ons are safe to test, but do not expect large quick changes.

McConachie et al. (2014) and Chalfant et al. (2007) ran group CBT for anxiety and got solid, measurable drops. Their success shows that when the goal is narrow (cut anxiety) and the method is manualized CBT, small samples can still show clear wins. Animal and supplement studies keep coming out under-powered; bigger or longer trials are needed.

If you run OT for young autistic clients, a therapy dog is unlikely to hurt and may lift mood. Just do not bank on big skill leaps. Track data yourself: take brief on-task counts or parent goal ratings across sessions. If no change shows after a few weeks, shift time and funds back to evidence-based tactics like structured teaching or reinforcement programs that have clearer support.