A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
“He gives me everything all the time, and I feel bad that I can’t even throw him the ball” : Relational care agency in interspecies care work
Authors: Huopalainen, Astrid; Satama, Suvi
Publisher: Sage
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Human Relations
Article number: 00187267261428980
ISSN: 0018-7267
eISSN: 1741-282X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267261428980
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267261428980
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/515925090
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
What might we learn about care and agency by attuning to the sensory dynamics of human-canine care collaborations? While most research on care focuses on humans, this paper extends the relational care work debate by engaging with interspecies care, foregrounding the nuanced relational care agency that entails nonhuman animal–human interdependency. Drawing on relational and interspecies care literature affording agency to nonhuman animals, we studied 13 assistance dog teams to explore how care is co-created between disabled humans and educated, yet vulnerable, animal workers. The empirical material includes ethnographic observations, interviews with human clients, and photographs. Our findings illustrate often invisible, nonverbal aspects of interspecies care, grounded in mutual trust and the aesthetic “reading” of one another, thereby contributing to a more granular understanding of relational care agency. Second, by showing how dogs, long understood through limited human conceptions, “shift” from care receivers to embodying agential care professionals who disrupt power dynamics and human-centered care norms, we nuance the carer–cared-for relationship in OS. Third, we offer novel insights into interspecies care, encompassing a broader range of animal-driven care practices than previous literature recognized. Finally, our study aims to foster more ethical relationships for working animals and humans alike.
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Funding information in the publication:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by the Research Council of Finland for project PAWWS—People and Animal Wellbeing at Work and in Society (funding decision #355434).