Living with dogs and asthma outcomes in children
Living with a dog does not seem to worsen long‑term asthma severity in children with allergic asthma, but may increase the risk of asthma exacerbations slightly, according to a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden that has been published in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: Global.
Children with allergic asthma often live in homes with pets, and many families wonder whether keeping a dog has an effect on their child’s symptoms. To explore this, researchers at Karolinska Institutet used nationwide registers within the Appeasing the Wheezing project to study 99,389 children diagnosed with asthma and airway allergy. The children were followed until they turned 19 or until the study ended in 2023, and their exposure to dogs from diagnosis onwards was categorised as no exposure, continuous exposure, or discontinued exposure.
“There has been little evidence on whether living with a dog or giving up a dog affects asthma outcomes in children with allergic asthma, which is why we wanted to study this at the population level,” says Catarina Almqvist Malmros, paediatrician at Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital and professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet.
The study found no clear link between continuous dog exposure and moderate‑to‑severe asthma over time. At two, four and six years after diagnosis, the level of asthma severity was about the same for children with and without dogs.
However, the patterns differed when the researchers looked at asthma exacerbations, episodes requiring emergency care or high use of reliever inhalers. Children who lived with dogs had a slightly higher risk of asthma exacerbations than children who did not. This was equally true for children who continued living with a dog and for those whose families stopped owning a dog. Discontinued dog ownership did not appear to improve asthma outcomes. One possible explanation is that dog allergens can remain in homes for many months, and that dog allergens are common in public places such as schools, even for families without pets. A limitation of the study is that it did not distinguish between patients who had dog allergies and other airway allergies.
“These results can support conversations between families and healthcare professionals,” says Resthie Putri, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. “Keeping a dog does not seem to affect asthma severity, but it may slightly increase the risk of asthma exacerbations.”
The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers at Uppsala University and the Paediatric Allergy and Pulmonology Unit at Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital. It was financed by the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association Research Fund, Region Stockholm, the Strategic Research Program in Epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet, and the Foundation Frimurare Barnhuset in Stockholm.
Publication
Dog exposure and subsequent asthma outcomes in children with asthma and allergy. Resthie R. Putri, Cecilia Lundholm, Bronwyn K. Brew, Hanna Karim, Jon R. Konradsen, Tove Fall, Catarina Almqvist, JACI: Global. Available online 20 March 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacig.2026.100692