Whats your thoughts on taking a puppy on the school run

[Lichensclerosus]

I've been taking my 3month pup with me on the school run in the mornings. I don't take him into the playground or school grounds. I stand outside the gate and watch my 2 kids go in and try to keep out of the way of people as much as possible nor let him jump up and if he does then of course I apologise and address him to sit ect.

Im just interested to know your thoughts would you take a puppy on the school run? Not going to lie I have found it a bit stressful the last few times his quite a large puppy already(golden retriever mix) so does take a lot of strength to control him but then at the same time its great to socialise him with other children and get him use to the morning traffic /noises ect

I think it depends how close to other children he’s getting. If you can keep him well back then it’s fine.

Our school has asked people not to bring dogs in. The playground is not really an appropriate environment for dogs. There's the risk of dog poo, the jumping up that really upsets some children, the risk of a badly behaved dog... Lots of good reasons why not.

It's good to get him used to behaving well in busy locations.

If he's jumping up at people then the school run is not the place for him to be.

The gate is always the busiest place so why stand there? Lots of small children (probably smaller siblings too) trying to get through, pushchairs, scooters etc all being jumped at by a large excitable puppy seems totally inappropriate.

There must be better, quieter places to go until you have him under better control.

I take my dog on the school run and do the same as you. Staying out of the way and not allowing jumping up, it's good socialization for your puppy and great to teach manners now.

Please pick another busy location to train your dog. I hate dogs jumping up on me and my children +/- then being told off. I just want to collect my children and dread this kind of scenario.

This.

Problem is, it isn’t just you. Our school has banned dogs but about 5-10 parents linger with their dogs just outside the school grounds, forcing all the arriving children to navigate this mini-maze of digs and leads. It’s really unfair on the children who are scared of dogs. And by the way children who are scared of dogs start off fearless, they become scared because of badly-trained dogs leaping up at them.

It’s very selfish to bring dogs to school, socialise and train him away from young children

I wouldn't necessarily agree children who are scared of dogs start off fearless and an incident has happened to make them scared. Some children are scared because their parents are scared and they see then do.
Look at children who are scared of spiders, I am sure not once has a spider attacked them, but they see others who are scared then they are.
OP, I don't see a problem with taking your dog on the school run, as long as it's under control. And the couple of posters who have mentioned not going in the playground, well you already said you didn't in your OP...

I would look at getting your puppy used to wearing a head collar to help with control, ours doesn't need hers anymore but it was a useful aid when training.

As long as you're being respectful of others and not forcing children to be near you to get in the gate I don't see the issue.

By the gate is not an appropriate place - too congested

Can you find a spot further away?

Our school asked parents not to bring them on the school run as there’s not really any suitable places for them to be left whilst the children walk in. Dogs aren’t allowed on the campus at all.

I’d get annoyed if any dog jumped up at my kids as they walked in to school. Not everyone thinks puppies are cute.

There's absolutely loads of dogs brought to our school, which doesn't particularly bother me in itself, but the amount of times one of my DC have stepped in, or had to dodge, dog poo on the street going up to school is ridiculous.
Obviously it might not be people bringing them on the school run but it does seem a coincidence that it's bad on that road in particular and it really winds me up.

Sorry all I read was another arrogant dog owner- you struggle to control him and you want him to get used to other children- children who perhaps are scared of dogs or parents who don’t want your dog near our children. Parents who are already navigating too many cars, dog crap- scooters and now to pass by your dog by the gate

The playground is not really an appropriate environment for dogs.
That's why the OP doesn't take the puppy into the playground.
We took our puppies up to the gate, but not in school grounds, too. It's very good socialisation and lots of the kids love it!

They always stand right beside school gate though! And it’s it’s never just one parent with one dog, there’s usually a few. It turns what is already a really tricky bottleneck at a pressured time into borderline chaos due to the dogs getting in the way and kids stopping the look at them. I wish people wouldn’t do it.

Honestly I find well behaved dogs on the school run a massive nightmare for getting under the wheels of the buggy etc. it'd probably be okay if you arrive w few minutes late when the hordes have dissipated

Personally find it really annoying, I don't think people realise how annoying it is to hear them admonishing their dogs. School run is stressful enough

Your untrained pup should be on a fixed lead, not an extendable lead.

On a fixed lead it's very easy for you to pull him in close and hold it short enough to be certain he's never close enough to anyone else, to jump up and make contact.

Basic dog-owner manners.

Honestly it’s not on. My eldest used to love dogs until one jumped at him and he fell into a telegraph pole and had to have 15 stitches in his arm. Now he’s terrified of them. It’s not fair on him to have to navigate dogs every time he walks out of school. Thankfully our head has told people they’re not to stand at the gate with dogs. It just causes so many issues.

Oh We have 3 gates so i stand at the one that is the less busiest

If he's jumping up at people and you don't have the strength to control him you shouldn't be taking him anywhere IMO, but especially not school.

And I'm not someone who dislikes dogs, but someone who objects to owners getting dogs a bad name.

Our puppy is a Samoyed and she's beautiful, pure white and floofy, literally swooned at every time we take her out. She does come on the school run and we stand well clear of the school gate, in public space, and kids queue up to see her and pet her and she loves it.
She's an assistance dog in training too, and will need to go into a schooling environment (albeit smaller and specialist school probably) so getting used to children is good experience for her.
Obviously we don't let her jump up or go to people who may not like dogs, as long as you're mindful of others not liking dogs I think it's fine personally.

I try to keep out of the way of people as much as possible nor let him jump up and if he does then of course I apologise and address him to sit ect.

This isn't good enough. If you can't control the dog enough to not jump up the people around, it isn't ok to bring it to this kind of situation.

He is on a fixed lead and harness not sure where you've read extendable