To be totally put off when childminders have dogs?

[MickeyMouseShithouse]

and have them around the children?
maybe it stems from my slight fear of dogs - or the number of reports of children being mauled in the news.. but I would never want to hand my baby over to someone who has their dog around children. We have dogs in the family, all lovely and have never hurt a fly but I still keep the majority of my attention on them if the dogs is nearby as you just never know what could happen (especially with grabby baby hands)

It makes me feel awful that I can’t trust but sending my children off to a house with dogs in that I don’t actually know give me a sicky feeling.

Simple solution,don’t use a childminder who has a dog!

Any puncture wound can result in sepsis if it's not kept clean and looked after properly - including bites from toddlers to other toddlers“

Indeed it can. Little impractical to expect to find a childminder with no other toddlers in the house though 🤣

@AnotherAppleThief
id be interested to know where you think I’ve tried to damage the reputation of childminders with dogs?

This has been entirely opinion based; I haven’t bad-mouthed any childminders for having dogs.. in fact quite the opposite of you read all of my replies.

I was just interested to see if I was a majority or minority in this opinion.

sounds like you’ve a chip on your shoulder after reading the replies, I guess!

Oh, I know - I'm just saying that saying "I won't send my child to a childminder with a dog incase they get bitten and it turns septic" doesn't really make any logical sense.

Of course nobody needs to use a childminder with a dog, but any injury can turn septic, it's hardly unique to dog bites.

Ah, ok. Some risks you can do little about. Not using a childminder with pets is something you can positively control.

It depends. A small very relaxed dog, maybe; as we don't have pets and DD likes them. But my preference would be for a CM with no dogs.

There is a lovely childminder down the road who is always full to capacity. I really wanted to send DD to her, until I saw her with her dog. It wasn't a friendly type either, it was a large one who was barking and lungeing at people as they passed! There's no way I'd send DD there, and tbh I think it's very irresponsible to be a childminder and have that kind of dog.

@MickeyMouseShithouse No chip on my choukder, as I said I have no problems at all fulling my spaces, I have a great local reputation and get a lot of work via word of mouth.

But it's disingenuous to post in AIBU and faux surprise that people think you have ulterior motives. If you wanted a genuine conversation on the matter you would have posted in Childcare.

All the childminder's I've used have had dogs. It's never bothered me in the slightest. In fact I loved seeing him interact with them when I've collected him.

We have dogs and my kids have always been around dogs but I agree with you completely.

Here we go again......

I agree with the posters here responding to people saying the dogs they know, are lovely, soft, placid little Angels. Most dogs are until they turn, and snap, and bite. And ANY dog can do this. Even the 'friendly, soft, placid' ones.

The 'well, another child could bite your child too 'argument' is the most batshit comment on this site today!' 😬Just when I thought I'd heard everything.

YANBU

My first question when looking for childcare with our eldest was ‘do you have any pets in the house’ and if they had a dog it was a straight up no

I agree, I have 2 dogs and wouldn't want under 5s going to a childminder who had dogs. I don't understand how it is even allowed to be honest. Very young children and dogs don't mix IMO and I personally wouldn't even have a dog at home with young ones.

I have a pug plus a large breed and from the other point of view I personally wouldn't trust the children to behave appropriately round the big dog. The other day 5 kids approached him and tried to cuddle him. He sat still and shook his head that was all as it was too much for him (he's 11 months) but I wouldn't be comfortable about it as dogs give warnings and then could bite I guess if warnings aren't listened to. We have worked very hard to desensitise him to people touching his face, ears, approaching him from behind unexpectedly etc but even so if a dog is hurt or frightened then even a small one could hurt if they bit.

Agree. Very nearly sent one of my DCs to a (lovely and highly recommended) childminder then on the last visit they shared the exciting news that they'd just got a new puppy and the kids just loved him.

We love dogs but thought it showed poor judgment by the childminder, given the potential risk to the kids and also the massive stress for a tiny puppy, and decided not to go ahead. Few months later found out that it bit a friend's toddler and was rehomed with a relative.

I wouldn't mind a childminder with dogs, if they were guaranteed to never interact - like a large property with fenced off areas and another adult caring for the dogs. But no way would I want interactions with pets, not with lots of kids around.

I personally don't think it should be allowed by the registered body. Kids get bitten so much by dogs in this country. All dogs are friendly till something happens. I say this as a mother and a dog owner.
If your business is watching kids, I don't think a dog should be allowed.

Agree! Also, this argument can go in reverse - what if that child who likes to bite takes a munch at the dog's ear, or steps on its tail? Even the gentlest animal could react to this and hurt a nearby child, it can happen really fast, and most childminders have many kids around at a time so can't be always on full alert.

In my experience, truly responsible dog owners also wouldn't ever want their own dog in an uncomfortable or risky situation like this, which is also why it worries me when a childcarer is unconcerned about having lots of unfamiliar kids with their pet.

I would find it unfair on the dogs also especially having all those kids there and also having to be shut out of the living area all day. Just seems not good all round.

Not in million years would my kids go to a childminder who had a dog.

This is exactly why we've chosen nursery over a CM. I'm sorry that happened to you.

Massive dog lover, have one now. But when mine were under 5, I wouldn’t have chosen a childminder with a dog no. In fact I didn’t want to use a childminder at all and chose a nursery. I did use a childminder with a dog (labrador) when my daughter was in year 6, no issue with that

Hmm interesting post.

Our childminder has 2 small dogs and whenever I've been there they are separate from the children she minds although I'm sure they are together sometimes.

It doesn't worry me but maybe I wouldn't have chosen her if the dogs were big.

“I personally don't think it should be allowed by the registered body. Kids get bitten so much by dogs in this country. All dogs are friendly till something happens. I say this as a mother and a dog owner.

If your business is watching kids, I don't think a dog should be allowed.”

This is the most sensible comment on the entire thread.

If you'd actually read my comments, you'd realise that I wasn't using children biting as an argument for childminders having dogs.

The poster in question said she wouldn't use a childminder with dogs because dog bites can turn septic.

My point was that any injury can turn septic. If you don't want to use a childminder with dogs, don't, but at least use some logic

I 100% agree it's definitely not just you.

When I think about this in the abstract, I definitely come down on the no dogs side. But if I saw a childminder’s home with a small to medium sized dog being loved by the kids, well managed by the childminder, behaving well, not excitable, etc. I suspect I’d think it was wonderful.