*****VERY UPSET CHILDMINDER HADLEIGH*****

i think its bad that people are talking about you to put people off using you as a cm but if it is a small town then people will talk.i dont know alot about where you live

i dont use a cm but to be honest i dont let my children near dogs full stop.both are allergic to them and cats and we cant take them into someones house even if the pets are in a different room.alot of children have allergies and i think that needs to be considered when being a cm.

we didnt know our children were allergic until we'd explored all other avenues and the symptoms eventully died down once our dog had been put down from cancer and we weren't visiting relatives with pets too often.

i would try to appeal to a different market of people and openly advertise that you have a dog and make people clear of your policy regarding it with the children.

my mil's westie went for my son twice and thats the most placid dog id ever known.you really dont ever know where children and any animals are concerned and i think that is why people might be put off any cm with an animal.

its hard but please see both sides.im not keen with dogs and yes children need to learn responsibility towards animals etc but as a parent i would rather do that with them in my own home and myself than have someone else teach them that in a way that i have no control of.

i hope you can get this issue resolved.

I think by having animals you are reducing your pool of possible mindees.

I wouldnt go to a cm with a dog, I dont know any dogs, my kids dont know any dogs and I am a bit nervous of dogs, which I think is a sensible thing to be, certain types of dogs can do kids a lot of harm.

We have a cat, I wouldnt imagine a cat could do as much harm as a dog, they just arent as big and powerful as some dogs. But saying that when we have kids come to play some are quite nervous of our cat, so I make sure she is out of the way for the whole time they are here.

if people are actively warning people about your dog, the thought occurs that maybe other people do not see him in the same way as you do. could other people view him as a threatening dog? to you he is a member of the family so you are more likely to forgive him any character flaws which other people would worry about. tbh i wouldnt trust a baby gate to keep a dog out of a room, my ex had a fairly small dog who could easily jump over their garden wall and that was a foot or so higher than most gates

while i would not dream of putting my kids in a house with a strange dog, i also wouldnt badmouth a childminder with a dog unless i thought the dog was a cause for concern. while none of us like to admit our kids can be badly behaved, other people are often a lot more blunt about what they see and in the case of a threatening dog i doubt they would feel the need to be very kind im afraid, i certainly wouldnt be if i thought it was possibly a danger

We went on our cm hunt 6 months ago now. I met one lovely lady, two ladies who would 'do' and one awful one. The two ladies who would do did not have dogs. One had two young DD's who even in the interview got obviuous preferential treatment. The other had no sleeping facilities for DS.

The awful one had two huge dogs, wasn't in when i arrived (on time) and when she did get there sat down and said 'ALRIIIGHT?'. nO TOUR, dogs loose and one small, minimal toy room. The lovely lady had a dog, a bird and guinea pigs. The dog is a small breed and does always seem very friendly. However, she is always kept in a partitioned off part of a room. AS others have said, there is also a special poop section of their garden.

On the whole we are very happy with her, DS woke up this morning wanting his shoes on and was calling her name. For us she shone through because of her professional friendly open approach, that she was so happily prepared to help us and be flexible and of course the fact DS settled in the house immediately and took to her straight away. But as others have said, our cm was chosen because of all these reasons and in spite of the dog.

I have had my post removed as you feel that it could do your business harm.

If you ask a question on an open, public domain like this, then you should accept that you may get an answer that you may not want to hear.

I appologise if I have caused you upset, but I thought by answering your question truthfully, you could escape any more worrying about why you do not get called. By doing it in this way, I thought that you might listen to comments that have been made rather than not taking them on board when we have tried to talk to you, but I was obviously wrong.

Sorry

I deliberately chose my nursery for DD because they have all sorts of animals there: sheep, donkeys, horses, goats, dogs and cats! we have two dogs and two cats too so for me animals are a bonus That said I wouldn't let her go to a house with a known troublesome breed i.e. Rottweiler, bull terriers etc but Pointers are lovely so for me no problems there.

I'm a childminder and have 2 very small dogs. The children love them! My intention was to keep them away from the children but this is impossible as the children beg to play with them! They dress them up and play with them like dolls!
I also have a rabbit. I think it's a good way of teaching responsibility. They learn how to look after pets by feeding and cleaning them out and also it's a great oppurtunity to teach basic hygiene.

Lovingmumof1 - I don't think that anyone is trying to put you out of business there are plenty of children needing care in Hadleigh for all childminders.

However because you have a dog you are going to reduce your prospective parents (as many have said on this thread they just will not use a cm that has a dog, regardless of the cm). Parents will not phone to ask about your services if they are not looking for a childminder with a dog (Calling would be a waste of their time and as I am sure you know we parents don't have a great deal of spare time)

Hadleigh is a fairly small tight knit community and the majority of parents all know each other in a round about way. I don't think that anyone is conspiring against you and spreading rumours. Through word of mouth you are just known as the childminder with the dog.

Parents (myself included) have an "ideal candidate" in their mind for who will look after their children. Out of all the childminders in Hadleigh I would only be prepared to leave my child with two of them as the rest do not fufil the requirements i am looking for.

There have been some really good suggestions on this thread from people trying to help. Ask someone (who you trust but who will be honest with you)to come round and offer their opion on your setting and their view of your dog, Advertise in a dog magazine (you will be attracting the attention of people who you know won't be put off by a dog), send a questionnaie to the parents of past mindees asking for their feedback. Be prepared to work on their views.

It is unstandable that you want to do things your way (its your business after all) but if your way hasn't been working then maybe it's time to make some adjustments.

oh and I'm fairly sure this childminder has no shortage of work - the dog doesn't have to out people off, although I think you do need to be clear about boundaries- but you sound like you use that anyway with the gates etc.

I don't have a dog. DS3 and ds1 go to a childminder with a dog. Bloody brilliant she is too. She has guinea pigs as well.

I have three dogs who the whole family love to bits,but i would not use a childminder with a dog because you can never be sure of the way the dog has been raised/trained.
I thing the asthma/allergies thing is starting to be shown by studies to be caused by lack of exposure to animals/dirt(obviously not excrement)that todays children experience -known as the hygiene hypothesis(anyone scientist bods out there to verify?)- however if you dont like dogs then you dont like them, nothing is going to change this-its an emotional reaction.
Its definitely each to their own.
I childminded for a short time(and I emphasise the short -I put away my working mother guilt and got back in the office very quickly).none of my clients seemed to care about the dogs -most had dogs of their own-they were more interested in quibbling over money.I did however set up a dog room in garage with old sofa for them-but noone asked me to do this,it was for my own peace of mind -they are big dogs and toddlers do get knocked over easily.
Loving mumof one I think you will have to accept that with the two schools of thought -like dogs but not keen on trusting someone elses dog with my child and the just dont like dog'ers -your potential clients numbers will be reduced.
My advice -QUIT CHILDMINDING (have to admit I'm very biased had a nightmare experience cm'ing -I'm scarred for life!!!)

I wouldn't dream of using a childminder who had a dog. I wouldn't trust anyone's dog with my child and there is the hygiene factor to consider.

Our last child minder had a dog and honestly, I couldn't tell you what he looked like. He was walked outwith the area of the house and garden before mindees arrived. He was kept upstairs in the house with his food and water. At lunchtime, childminder walked him whilst her mother (also registered) did the lunches. This allowed her a lunch break. He went back upstairs after that and only came down once the last child had gone. She had other registered childminders working with her (3 in total), so if she wanted to check how he was, there was always someone with the kiddliewinks. Her bathroom was downstairs so no-one had reason to be upstairs.
I have a dog and I would be wary of a minder with a dog wandering around. My pooch is placid but I have seen her growl and snap at a child who was in the house and had been annoying her, after me telling her mother to get her to stop.

Hi I am CM with a dog and most people are glad I have him as it means their own child will not ask for one. He is extrememly friendly and neither of my children have any allergies relating to pet hair or asthma and I believe this is because we have a dog. I think it is unfair to just dismiss a CM because of that reason alone. I personally would be more worried about older children bullying my child as I have heard more stories of that than animals attacking children.

I'm not keen on dogs myself (had a couple of very nasty experiences with so-called "nice" dogs) so wouldn't leave my own children with a minder with one. I'm afraid that, apart from the perceived danger non-dog-owning people like me have (sorry ), I also don't like being licked or dribbled on.

I currently have 2 cats, and it used to be more, and parents need to be reassured that I will keep their children safe from them. I love my cats, but are well aware that lots of people don't like cats. One of mine stays out when children are around; the other one, who is still very young, loves being around the children. However, I make sure that parents know that she isn't allowed to wander around on kitchen work surfaces, is well-toilet-trained and doesn't poop in toy boxes, and would never ever be left in a room with a sleeping child! I also accept that I may lose work if someone doesn't like cats.

lovingmumof1 - I think it is unkind for other people to badmouth you because you have a dog. Who are the people doing the talking? If it's other childminders, you need to ask them not to judge (easier said than done). However, if it has been potential parents who have visited already, then you need to look at why they have said anything.

As someone else has said already, parents will choose not to have a childminder for all sorts of reasons, and we have to accept that.

My CM has 2 dogs. Doesn't bother me. One is her's, the other was her sons but when her son moved back in, so did the dog!
The dogs are kept in the kitchen / on the garden in the day. So in the living room, the kids have full roam. DD is only in the kitchen when the CM is sorting out dinner (dd is nearly 1 year old and gets fussy when cant see CM in the day!).
I personally dont trust dogs, but I still visit places with dogs at the house, cant seem to get away from them to be honest.
I'd much rather leave my dd with the CM who is loving than the faceless nurseries that I experienced when looking around for childcare places.

We had a dog that the children and I adored but when I started childminding full time (I started and registered for my niece) he had to go. He was VERY well trained ( I have offered to train other dogs in the past) and we got him as a puppy when DS was 2 so he was well used to children.
No matter how clean you are the hair gets everywhere, you need to keep the dog with you or shut away. Most Ofsted inspectors do not like childminders having dogs. Finacially I couldn't give up childminding when we had to give him away but I Would have done if I could. We still miss him terribly and to make matters worse we are moving to the countryside at the end of the year and my parents are going to help with the childcare of our 4 dc's so I won't be childminding.
But for the reasons I have listed I wouldn't choose a childminder with a dog either

Hunkermunster, I'm wondering if I trod on your toes back there - if so, I'm sorry - it wasn't deliberate AND I didn't even get your name right

still stand by what i said donnie.....bit ott.
why would you be "mildly annoyed" that its allowed by ofsted?
do you also think ofsted should not allow cats? as their faeces are potentially lethal to children? or maybe ofsted should not allow cms to let their mindees come into contact with any dog.......just in case?
dont get me wrong in not a dog lover atall and will never have one but lmo1 is trying to make a living here and people gossiping telling others not to use her is utterly ridiculous, particually when she has obviously got measures in place to keep dog and mindees seperate.
people can make their own minds up whether to use her or not without others interfering. thats just my opinion!

now until recently me and dd lived with my parents and their 2 german shepards, (one has recently died, very sad) and i was only slightly worried by one as dd got bigger (she used to warn dd away) but that was by the time dd could realise to stay away from her. the other one dd can still walk all over, shout at and sit on without me having to worry, because i know that dog and if hes had enough he goes upstairs (where dd is not)

BUT.........putting your child into care where there is a dog you do not know and could not possibly have any idea if/when they would turn is another point entirely, and no, although i am a dog lover, i would not use a CM with a dog.

It wouldn't necessarily put me off. Dd goes to a nursery with dogs, chickens, sheep and a pony, I think it's fab. However, all the animals are in various pens/enclosures so the children don't have unfettered access to them. If you had a huge dog rampaging around I wouldn't like it but the conditions you describe sound fine.

I can understand that not everyone feels the same though.

agree its parent decision. childrens safety always comes first, thats why I lock dog away when anyone elses babies come around, but uf parents let older childern play with dog then thats up to them, dog loves kids.