Evidence for social pathways to health benefits for dog owners appears positive but less well-developed. Our study aimed to estimate the differences in social capital by dog ownership and dog walking status among young-to-middle-aged adults and older adults in Japan. Data from 3606 residents living in Japan were used. Data on social capital, dog ownership, and dog walking were collected by questionnaires. Age-stratified multivariable linear regression models were used to estimate differences in social capital scores by dog ownership and dog walking status. Among young-to-middle-aged adults, the mean of the activities with neighbours score, adjusted for covariates, was significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the dog owner walkers group compared to the non-dog owners group. Among older adults, no significant differences in the marginal means of social capital scores were observed between the three groups of non-dog owners, dog owner non-walkers, and dog owner walkers. While the benefits of social capital for a healthy lifestyle have been well-documented, few means have been identified to intervene in social capital. Building on and expanding the known health benefits of dog ownership and dog walking, this study revealed modest support for the link between dog walking and activities with neighbours among young-to-middle-aged adults, but no meaningful associations were found for older adults. Additionally, no significant link was observed between dog walking and social cohesion among either age group. Future research can further improve the use of dog-based behavioural health interventions for fostering social capital.

为狗主带来健康益处的社会途径的证据似乎是积极的，但欠发达。我们的研究旨在通过在日本的中青年人和老年人中，通过狗的所有权和walking狗的状态来估计社会资本的差异。使用了来自3606名居住在日本的居民的数据。通过问卷调查收集了有关社会资本，狗的所有权和walking狗的数据。年龄分层的多元线性回归模型用于通过狗的所有权和狗的行走状态来估计社会资本得分的差异。在年轻至中年成年人中，经协变量调整后，具有邻居评分的活动平均值明显更高（p <0.05）的狗拥有者步行者组与非狗拥有者组相比。在老年人中，非狗主人，狗主人非步行者和狗主人步行者这三组之间的社会资本得分的边际均值没有显着差异。尽管社会资本对健康生活方式的好处已得到充分证明，但几乎没有发现干预社会资本的手段。这项研究建立在并扩大了养狗和walking狗的已知健康益处的基础上，揭示了对walking狗与年轻人与中年成年人邻居活动之间联系的适度支持，但未发现对老年人有意义的关联。此外，在两个年龄组中，walking狗与社交凝聚力之间均未发现明显关联。