AIBU to think school staff should make care provision for their dogs?

[LoveTheirDogs]

Our headteacher and business manager have both got dogs in the last six months. Now they're bringing those dogs into school. They're saying that the dogs are 'school dogs' which seems to mean that they're dogs that mostly hang around in school. They've also scheduled a number of 'enrichment activities' for the kids so that they can 'learn how to interact with different species' ie their dogs. AIBU to think this is taking the piss and they should just make provision for their dogs same as any other working person rather than having the whole school have to go to these (non-accredited) 'courses' that clearly cost a fortune and are only being put on so that BM and HT can tick a box that says everything is ok with them bringing their pets to work?

I'm a dogowner and I think they are CFs. In my secondary school, our headmistress had 2 dogs and when she came occasionally to teach us French, her wretched dogs would roam the classroom, sticking their heads in schoolbags trying to get our lunches. We took a dim view.

This reminds me of a children's programme about a childminder. One of her 'charges' is a dog. 😂😂

This really doesn't sound right to me. I've got a phobia of dogs too, and would hate this. It just sounds like the HT and BM are using their work to felicitate free doggy day care.

@LoveTheirDogs

So what? Not sure what your point is.

You don't think they should be there but plenty of other people do. How can you not see my point?

@lawofdistraction

DD is so utterly terrified of all dogs, if this were proposed at her school I would do absolutely everything in my power to try and stop it. Schools aren't the place for bloody dogs.

Maybe it would help with your daughter's fear of dogs.. they're not going anywhere.

DD is so utterly terrified of all dogs, if this were proposed at her school I would do absolutely everything in my power to try and stop it.

Ot maybe you could channel that power into actually helping her overcome her phobia. As a pp said, dogs are everywhere. It’s not rational to be scared of them and if she doesn’t overcome the fear she will have a very difficult time in life. You trying with all your might to stop the school having a dog would just exacerbate her fears. If mum doesn’t want the school to have one they must be dangerous…

Is it an academy? If so, good luck getting anywhere with it the HT is pretty much God in most academies.

@lawofdistraction

DD is so utterly terrified of all dogs, if this were proposed at her school I would do absolutely everything in my power to try and stop it. Schools aren't the place for bloody dogs.

Then you need to address her phobia. If my child was frightened of something as every day as dogs, I’d do everything in my power to address that.

@Rosesareyellow

In my time as a pupil, parent and governor of schools, I've seen a girl blinded in one eye by a stone, more broken and fractured bones than I care to add up, anaphylactic shocks from pupils smuggling in snacks, emotional trauma from bullying incidents, and yes - actual bite marks, but inflicted by one pupil on another.

Indeed - a child in my DCs class had to be sent to A and E because someone brought in one of their parent’s military grade glow sticks to show off with, snapped it, and the liquid went in the child’s eye. They turned out to be fine - but yes all kinds of crazy unpredictable shit must go down in schools. That’s kids for you. A dog would be the least of my worries!

There is always risk and random things can happen that no one would have predicted. That's no reason to add more risk imo

@Comedycook

So using that logic, there should be no playground equipment, trees or gardens ever added to any schools again?

And no one should be able to bring in their own ingredients for home ec/food and nutrition?

And most sports should be phased out..?

I don’t think you really understand how risk works, especially in a school setting

[quote SW1amp]@Comedycook

So using that logic, there should be no playground equipment, trees or gardens ever added to any schools again?

And no one should be able to bring in their own ingredients for home ec/food and nutrition?

And most sports should be phased out..?

I don’t think you really understand how risk works, especially in a school setting[/quote]
Those things add value.

Two random rescue dogs from abroad do not bring enough value to balance out the risk imo

A well trained, therapy dog under strict control may be beneficial enough to warrant the risk.

standard pet insurance will not cover them being brought to school as school dogs!

It will. My bloke used to take his dog to work and they took a copy of the pet insurance documents. It covered damage at his place of work to the tune of £1 million.

Two random rescue dogs from abroad do not bring enough value to balance out the risk imo

A well trained, therapy dog under strict control may be beneficial enough to warrant the risk.

A) who says they aren’t well trained and haven’t passed the Pets as Therapy assessment
B) therapy dogs don’t need many special skills. They need to be quiet and calm and able to sit still and be stroked.
Some dogs need training, others are born like that
Older dogs are more likely to be calm than puppies

I’m intrigued as to what risk/reward benchmark you are using to evaluate when the risk is ‘balanced out’ for therapy dogs

@Blossomtoes

standard pet insurance will not cover them being brought to school as school dogs!

It will. My bloke used to take his dog to work and they took a copy of the pet insurance documents. It covered damage at his place of work to the tune of £1 million.

Was his work place a school?

Oh for goodness - all the hysteria, there's going to be a calm, friendly dog in the school, not a bloody tiger roaming around. Hopefully, for all the children they will develop a healthy understanding of dogs without their phobia ridden parents influencing them.

We had a school dog, it was such a special treat to visit her. Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years.

The dog will be assessed and will have to be of a calm nature. All contact with children will be supervised. I cant imagine any school assessments isn't particularly Paperlight or quick to do. I'm sure the dog will have to jump through hoops to get past the school gates.

Here's a literature review on the benefits:

files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1173578.pdf

They aren't 'school dogs' though. They're family pets that the HT and BM are too tight pay dog walkers for so they bring them to their workplace and call them school dogs.

Therapy dogs have to be family dogs though, they don’t just get put away in the cupboard at the end of the day.

We are actually trying to get a therapy dog for our school as they are very beneficial but the HT isn’t allowing it! I assume it’s because of the risk of allergies.

Was his work place a school?

Makes no difference. It didn’t say “workplace unless it’s a school”. A workplace is a workplace.

I cannot believe people think this unreasonable. Dogs can really help create a lovely atmosphere and relax children with anxiety. The dogs will be kept away from students who are scared or allergic, not roaming the school unsupervised. For children who are nervous, getting used to a calm dog in a secure environment could be beneficial but will not be compulsory I’m sure. To suggest that the head teacher is doing this just to save a few quid on dog walkers is laughable. Do you really think the head is that irresponsible? Or broke for that matter? There are way more important things to worry about in education

Do you really think the head is that irresponsible?

Plenty of heads that irresponsible. My ex head for example.
Headteacher: I think we should get the basketball hoops out at break.
Belle(nqt head of pe) I'm not sure. Behaviour is not that good. Hoops are really heavy but unstable. Any climbing on them could cause a really serious accident.
Head: you don't trust our children, belle you are horrible. Self regulation blah blah. I'm implementing it.
Belle: Fine. I want to be on record that I do not agree.

2 days later a child under five had one fall on her head. We were lucky in that she didn't die. Stitches and concussion. And of course the head tried to pin it on the poorly paid dinnerladies on duty.

So yes, heads can definitely be that irresponsible.

@Comedycook ahh I didn't realise you'd met the dogs to know that they aren't able to be therapy dogs. Silly me.

Or broke for that matter?

You don't have to be broke to want to save some cash 🤔

Therapy dogs have to be family dogs though, they don’t just get put away in the cupboard at the end of the day.

Wouldn’t surprise me at this point if there are people on this thread who think a therapy dog has studied for a psychology degree. A therapy dog doesn’t need specialist training - it’s just a calm dog that’s comfortable and happy around people, including children. It’s not the same as a service dog. Many therapy dogs belong to volunteers who go into care homes and similar settings, not specialist dog trainers.

@MrsDonnelly

I cannot believe people think this unreasonable. Dogs can really help create a lovely atmosphere and relax children with anxiety. The dogs will be kept away from students who are scared or allergic, not roaming the school unsupervised. For children who are nervous, getting used to a calm dog in a secure environment could be beneficial but will not be compulsory I’m sure. To suggest that the head teacher is doing this just to save a few quid on dog walkers is laughable. Do you really think the head is that irresponsible? Or broke for that matter? There are way more important things to worry about in education

People are plonkers. Countless threads on here prove this.

I cannot believe people think this unreasonable

And therein lies the problem - there are many dog-lovers who cannot even begin to grasp the concept that not everyone feels the same. Those who are not confirmed dog lovers (not to be assumed to be dog-haters) can have a more objective approach and we can see the negatives as well as the positives.

Thankfully there are dog lovers who do get it - as we have seen on this thread.

You’ll look like a bellend if you say anything because everyone is obsessed with dogs these days, but I agree they’re taking the piss and wouldn’t like this.