Pets make everything better — including stroke rehabilitation, a new study says.
Patients recovering from a recent stroke became more engaged in rehab sessions when a therapy animal was present, researchers report in the August edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
“The presence of a therapy dog can change the entire dynamic of a rehabilitation session,” said researcher Whitney Romine. She is the manager of animal-assisted services at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
“Patients often share that they feel more grounded, safe, and empowered to engage in therapy activities, which can make a meaningful difference in their recovery experience,” Romine added in a news release.
For the study, researchers recruited 50 recent stroke patients and randomly assigned half to undergo rehab that included visits from trained therapy dogs. The rest received standard rehab.
People in the service animal group were given pet-related tasks designed to help them recuperate.
For example, patients were asked to brush the dog’s coat to build fine motor skills. They were also asked to walk a therapy dog to help relearn proper gait and posture.
Patients in the therapy animals group showed higher recovery scores. They participated more in rehab, had higher levels of physical activity, and remained mobile for longer periods.
“Stroke recovery can be challenging, particularly when patients face barriers such as low motivation or limited energy,” researcher Dr. Brent Bauer said in a news release. He is an internal medicine physician at Mayo Clinic.
“This research demonstrates that animal-assisted treatment may offer a practical and effective way to enhance engagement and support better rehabilitation outcomes,” Bauer said.
RELATED: Stroke Clinical Trials: What Black Patients Should Know Before Participating
Black Americans face a significantly higher prevalence of stroke and a higher death rate from stroke than white Americans.
Several risk factors contribute to these disparities, including:
Black patients also face several disparities in acute stroke care and treatment outcomes, including delayed treatment, lower intervention rates, and higher rates of long-term disability, poorer functional recovery, and lower rates of appropriate post-acute rehabilitation or hospice referrals.
These disparities show that surviving a stroke is only part of the story. Regaining mobility, communication, independence, and quality of life also matters, but access isn’t equal across all patients.
Therapy dogs aren’t meant to be seen as replacements for physical, occupational, or speech therapy for stroke survivors. Instead, researchers are studying them as a way to make rehabilitation more engaging and motivating for patients.
The new study found that patients receiving animal-assisted treatment were more engaged in rehabilitation and physically active during their inpatient stay. The findings are promising, but the study had a very small group of participants. Future research will need a much larger group of participants from diverse backgrounds to better understand therapy dogs’ impact on stroke rehabilitation.
Accessibility is also another concern. Therapy dog programs may not be available at every rehabilitation facility, leaving many patients without the opportunity to try this new approach.
RELATED: Stem Cell Therapy for Stroke Clinical Trials: What Black People Need to Know
Historically, Black Americans have been underrepresented in clinical trials, making it especially important that studies evaluating new approaches to stroke recovery include diverse participants.
A recent clinical trial involving Black men with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) found that lack of awareness, transportation, phone access, and clinician referrals could all affect participation — and that community outreach, remote assessments, transportation, and involvement of healthcare providers helped address some of those barriers.
Increasing Black participation in medical research could provide more relevant findings for Black communities, and, more importantly, help improve outcomes across health conditions they are disproportionately affected by.
More information
The American Veterinary Medical Association has more on therapy animals.
SOURCE: Mayo Clinic, news release, Aug. 3, 2026
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