The COVID-19 pandemic has changed people’s lives and increased their vulnerability to physical and mental health hazards. While Korea has avoided nationwide lockdown measures since the COVID-19 outbreak, the prolonged restrictions and social isolation measures have resulted in detrimental psychological effects, such as increased anxiety, boredom, and loneliness. The present study investigated dog attachment and changes in dog walking during the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of dog attachment and dog walking on the loneliness of Korean dog owners. An online, cross-sectional survey was conducted in the fall of 2021 in which 249 dog owners responded to questionnaires that asked questions about dog attachment, their perception of dog walking, and their feelings of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most dog owners responded that they spent more time with their dogs and developed a stronger bond with them during the pandemic. Additionally, respondents stated that they walked their dogs more often than they did before COVID-19 and that their dogs aided in reducing loneliness. We found that dog walking directly affected attachment and indirectly influenced the loneliness of dog owners. Further research is required to determine how dog walking impacts positive psychological effects and promote dog walking.

Contact with nature is restorative and leads to health benefits via nearby nature such as gardens, natural scenes, and interactions with companion animals. Although the recovery effect of natural environments is well known, few studies examine the restorative value of watching animals in urban park settings such as off-leash dog areas in urban parks. This study aims to investigate the restorative effect of observing dog play in urban dog parks by measuring brain activity, emotional state, and perceived restorativeness. Brain activity and psychological responses were measured by electroencephalography (EEG) and the perceived restorativeness scale (PRS)/profile of mood states, respectively. The EEG results demonstrated that the dog play video produced significantly lower alpha and higher beta power spectra, which suggested that the subjects were attentive and focused by accepting the scene as an interesting stimulus. Among the subscales of the PRS, fascination plays an important role in the restorative effects of watching dog play. The subjects felt more lively, cheerful, and interested than they did when watching the city and natural view videos. Thus, the perceived restorative values of watching dog play video in dog parks are comparable to those of natural park video environments. Moreover, dog parks exerted positive effects regardless of dog ownership status by improving mood and enhancing restorative experience. Opportunities for watching dog play in safe places around dog parks through considerable park planning would extend the health benefits of dog parks to non-dog owners and improve negative attitudes toward dog parks.