Childminder's dog has bitten DD

Landshark - As an experienced dog handler; what an idiotic thing to say. Honestly, some of you need an IQ test.

To the O/P - Not reporting it just makes you complicit. If another child goes there and they are bitten how will you feel then!? It will be assessed for dangerous behaviours and age, before any decision is made to PTS. Don't plaster it on FB, because the CM is probably already feeling awful - Even if they were mindless and should not have dogs around children! It will end in a witch hunt for both of you. Just report it - Commonsense yeah!?

Errr.....who are you talking to?
Are you feeling okay?

How many people in the UK have been killed by a chihuahua or a cavalier kings Charles spaniel grabbing hold of the carotid artery and killing a person. Honestly I’ve never read anything so ridiculous. I have an 8 kg dog in tte highly unlikely event that he attacked me I’m pretty sure I could defend myself and I’m not Miss Universe by any stretch of the imagination. He had a small mouth I can’t fit my hand into it so he would not be able to get his mouth around my calf or thigh and you don’t need to be a dog anatomy specialist to see that he has very small jaw muscles in fact he struggles to bite through his kibble so lacks a powerful bite. At 8 kg he is not going to knock me to the ground although I guess I might trip over him. In contrast my young dog is 16 kg again in the highly unlikely event he attacked me it could be a different story my hand easily fits in his mouth he could easily get his jaw round my calf and probably my thigh it’s obvious he has much larger jaw muscles and therefore a more powerful bite. If I was caught of guard he might knock me to the ground. My friend has a 26 kg dog that can effortlessly knock me over (and has in it’s exuberance) I suspect if a dog really attacks you once you’re on the ground you’re chances of survival diminish. Secondly when you read about these dreadful dog attacks it often says the dog was shaking the child like it was a ragdoll my 8kg dog would struggle to shake a pheasant let alone a child. This is why big dogs pose more of a risk than small dogs.

@Cdu A vet told me that the overstimulation/noise etc may have contributed to him turning alpha on us.

Please never listen to that vet again. Dogs do not 'turn alpha' ever, it's not a thing, it doesn't exist. Dogs are however easily over aroused, frightened, may experience conflicting emotions and may bite as a result.

I think you did the right thing in rehoming, but it really pisses me off when vets promote such bullshit concepts around dog behaviour. Unless they're a Veterinary Behaviourist, they are not qualified to talk about training/behaviour simply by being a vet.

Anyway - actually returned to the thread to say how astonished I am to find so many people wanting to seek revenge/punishment or lay blame at the dogs paws, when a dog is no more capable of being responsible for his behaviour than a small child is.

Thats why we don't take dogs to court or charge them with crimes - we hold their owners or the adult in charge of them responsible for their actions/behaviour.

I knew this too but didn't want to throw a grenade on an already spicy thread 😂

Currently childminders can still have XL Bullies.

Some people would probably blame the baby (or its parents) 🙄.

If someone is working as a child minder and has a dog, then it should be a condition of their registration that the dog is kept in another place and always locked away from the children. No ifs, no buts.

If a child minder obtains a dog after registration they should be required to inform the authorities.

Under no circumstances would my child be returning.

Why did your child get bitten?
How badly was your child injured?

Growing up with animals, I was brought up to leave the animal alone and not pull its tail, etc.

Those of you who say you would destroy the woman's business are terrible. I am disgusted you would be so vengeful.

My son got scratched, bitten and hit by childminder's DAUGHTER, and no way could I demand her child be PTS. So shame on you, who demand the animal's death.

This is a very measured response, I think, OP.
I do also think that if a dog really goes for someone, you know about it — and while this incident sounds really worrying, it doesn’t sound as though the dog was intent on savaging your DD (thank goodness) — but when you’re caring for other people’s children, you can’t take any risks.

Edited due to confusing punctuation.

I don't blame you not wanting to go back. The dog shouldn't be alone with the children
Please report to Ofsted

Should have clarified- I meant no risk is acceptable where dogs are concerned.

Report - SSD, OfSted, police.

Do not let your child through the door ever again.

Lots of risks are acceptable. Tricycles, climbing frames, slides etc. If you become too risk averse you end up with an overweight kid in front of an iPad who doesn’t want to leave the house.

OP, this needs reporting to the police ASAP. The minder should have done this herself but you absolutely need to do so. Our dog has bitten somebody and it was the first thing that we did, but with no victim report they will not even look into it. And ask for her policies around the dog so that you can make a formal complaint.

As an ex-childminder her making excuses for the dog utterly horrifies me tbh. My first move would have been to get a behaviourist in and change my policies surrounding the dog immediately so that it was never in contact with the children again (not that I would have let that happen to begin with, but I know some minders are fine with it).

You are absolutely correct. It’s the adult to blame, always in a situation like this. I am a parent, and always understood this.

In this situation it’s the childminder who’s in charge, you gave her that responsibility, and you should have been able to trust her.

Of course accidents happen ( have to me) but she should have owned her mistake, guaranteed it wouldn’t happen again, and explained the measures in place to guarantee that ( always being in the same room when dog is there as an example ). You might still have chosen not to return your DC but you’d have known it was being taken seriously.

I have to agree with this.
When I was looking for a childminder many years ago, I visited one and discounted her because she had a dog and I suspected someone in the house smoked. I could smell tobacco even when she had the kitchen extractor on.

I love dogs, more than I like most humans.i have two myself but i would be furious. Even if the child was winding the dog up (which is something I hate), the CM should have been aware of this and stopped it immediately...it shouldn't be allowed to happen in the first place. Kids will quite often not understand when a dog needs to be left alone especially if they're not familiar with dogs, so it should be something she's aware of, planned for and stopped.

I wouldn't be sending my child back. Not because of the dog,but because she clearly either doesn't supervise closely enough (which is even more important when mixing dogs and kids) or has shit judgement

The OP isn't at all to blame for someone else's dog biting her child while her child was in that someone else's care.

Any suggestion that she is at fault is ludicrous and distressing.

To the argument "well, she should teach her child how to behave around dogs", she may well not have a convenient dog at home to do this 🙄. We don't. When my child is around dogs and I am in charge of them, I watch them like a hawk and ask the owner's permission to pet the dog gently. My child would not get within touching distance of a dog without the owner's permission and me next to them, ready to intervene. And I would expect the dog's owner to take responsibility for the actions of their dog.

So regardless of whether dog or child is "to blame" here, it's ultimately the CM's fault. She was responsible for supervising both.

I think there should be a rule that childminders cannot have dogs on the premises, plus any pets like likely to cause harm should be inaccessible.

The ofsted guidance is seriously weird on this point. I’m not sure how they can consider animal bites a normal part of growing up but a fracture a serious incident. I know many more kids who have had innocuous accidents resulting in a fracture than an animal bite.

Minor injuries: Ofsted considers small bumps, scrapes, sprains, strains, bruising, cuts, grazes, wound infections, minor burns or scalds, minor head or eye injuries, and insect and animal bites (unless the child is hospitalized for more than 24 hours) as minor and a natural part of growing up.

Dog bit child who was in the care of a childminder. Shouldn’t have happened. That is the story. No need to know more.

The op has done nothing wrong. She entrusted the care of her child to a childminder, who, sadly, let her down.

I can’t see how animal bites are minor OP. When my daughter broke her leg at nursery they had to report it to ofsted and did straight away. They also produced a revised risk assessment and had an accident form ready for me to take to A&E when I picked her up.

Your child minder should have made a report but if you don’t think she did you should absolutely call ofsted as a minimum.

While the OP has taken a decision to use a childminder with a dog, the onus is absolutely on the childminder to create a safe environment for babies and toddlers. That responsibility does not lie with the child.

If a small dog gets anyway close to your face they can go for your neck very easily and kill you. They can jump up easily and get hold of an artery which could also cause death. As a few examples here there are many more. You never underestimate an dog, large or small and I would never be under the notion that I could fight off any aggressive dog...small or large, not a choice I'd make.