Headteachers personal dog in playground whats your opinion

[Grk]

Just wondering what's your thoughts
Our headteacher will sometimes bring her dog to work with her some days and takes it from classroom to classroom and the lunch hall, she also brings it on the playground at morning drop off and afternoon pick up . This dog is a rescue personal pet, it is not a professional emotional/ support/ assistant dog (I know this as im within the school)
This really bothers me both as a parent and a colleague for many reasons
Health and safety, allergies, children are also scared of dogs, dog looks anxious and scared, hygiene issues - the children also play on the playground at playtime and lunch often sitting on the ground , and the main one being parents of the school are not allowed to bring their dogs onto the playground and this has been communicated numerous times it's not really setting an example.

Am I thinking too much into this or would this bother you also ?

I’m severely allergic to latex. Never has anyone on mn stood up for me and others like me to stop balloons being used so no I won’t pander to people who get itchy - take a piraton - because no one gives two hoots I can’t breathe because they’re celebrating with balloons.

My sons school has a school dog. He's the headteachers little dog and they have another medium sized dog that comes in, they class them both as mentor dogs. Both have been specially trained to work in schools apparently. I love the idea, wish I had a school dog at the school I work at

What a nonsensical response. Latex has to be touching your skin to cause a reaction. Dogs don't.

Potentially being in contact with human disease is an unavoidable risk when going into hospital.

Being in contact with an animal that regularly sniffs other animals arses, sheds, slobbers, and carries all manner of germs is completely avoidable. Wards should be as sterile as possible. Ridiculous that flowers are no longer allowed in hospitals due to allergens but these animals are.

No it doesn’t. It triggers my asthma. Balloon arches are a nightmare I now avoid but it’s harder than you think. But thank you for explaining my allergy to me and telling me I’m nonsensical. I’ll remember that next time I’m being ambulanced to hospital on a nebuliser.

Our headmistress used to bring her dog to work back in the day

Don’t ever send your kids to a country private school then 😂. In my son’s prep school there were dogs everywhere. The house mistress dog would be sent to wake up each dorm and very gently go round and wake each child each morning-cutest thing ever. The head had his dogs in his office, the music teacher did lesson with her dogs. In the pre prep the secretary kept her 2 dogs under her desk and every day without fail they would go for a wander and be found with the reception age children making sure they got a biscuit too with the kids, the dogs even had parts in the nativity plays! Another teacher regularly brought in her ponies and donkeys the kids loved to lead them around the playground and they would come into the classrooms too. Parents were allowed to bring dogs inside and out of the school even right into classrooms and regularly ponies and quite a few chickens came to picks ups too.
Now at secondary school but still many dogs about. Even our doctors surgery has a cat who sleeps in the waiting room.

A trained dog that is there for the benefit of the children - absolutely yes. The head teacher’s personal pet that they don’t want to leave at home and is there for the HT’s benefit- absolutely no.

Very few dog owners are willing or capable of properly risk assessing their own dog.

Well as long as people aren't parading balloon arches around places where they don't belong (hospitals and schools for example) you don't need to worry, eh?

Odd how little regard you have for people with dog allergies but you expect sympathies for your own condition.

No it doesn’t. It triggers my asthma. Balloon arches are a nightmare I now avoid but it’s harder than you think. But thank you for explaining my allergy to me and telling me I’m nonsensical. I’ll remember that next time I’m being ambulanced to hospital on a nebuliser.

And dogs trigger my sons. God I wish it was just itching and easily solved by piriton. Last time he was in a room with a dog, meters away, resulted in a category 1 ambulance for a blue child. There’s so many places he can’t visit anymore; everywhere dogs are allowed we don’t go, even if dogs aren’t there it’d full of dander and could affect his breathing. Which is what would happen to a school if it had a dog present for hours every day. Especially as every school my DC have been to has narrow corridors, small classrooms and in winter all the windows and doors are shut. Enclosed poorly, ventilated spaces, exactly the sort of place we can’t go to anymore if they allow dogs. A school with a dog in it is not a safe place for him.

Hm, I think we might have wildly different ideas about what constitutes as cute!

What about students who might be nervous of dogs, or simply didn't like them in their space? Were they taken into consideration? Or was it just assumed that all children would enjoy the process of being woken up by an animal? Was the dog somehow intelligent enough to know which children to avoid?! I find it hard to believe that every single student in that school would have been comfortable being in close proximity to a dog like that.

you’ve totally missed my point. I’m not expecting sympathy (I don’t welcome inaccurate assumptions that belittle my allergy) I’m saying mn has a hierarchy of allergies they stand up for - mostly peanuts and dogs, and forget any others.

I’m also saying medical professionals are not concerned about dog allergies in hospitals because it’s not a massive deal. Like other allergies that aren’t anaphylaxis, take an antihistamine and get on with life. School will have a record of the allergies and can act appropriately but a single dog walking round a school in a controlled manner isn’t putting anyone at risk anymore than Sarah in class 2 wearing a jumper covered in her pet’s fur from her morning cuddle.

I can understand parents having concerns if their dc has an allergy or is scared, but just talk to the teacher rather than being over dramatic on mn.

My old primary school headteacher used to bring her black lab to work with her. We all loved him.

I guess private school dc are a bit tougher as they all seem to manage despite them all seeming to have dogs.

@TeenLifeMum : "Head teacher knows their dog and can risk assess appropriately."

OP says the dog looks anxious and scared! And it's a rescue dog so its history must be unknown, to some degree.

To me 'anxious and scared' implies it could be unpredictable and possibly attack someone (like many dogs could).

And fairly obviously was there such a child in the op's child's school, they wouldn't be bringing a dog in!

Well I have worked in schools all my working life and I can tell you risk assessments are done for EVERYTHING. Schools do not like being sued!

This. It should be the same rule for her pet dog as any other pet.

Did you not make the school aware of her allergy when she started?

Why do some schools pay for PAT dogs to come into schools then?

Exactly how i feel i am afraid of and have allergies. If someone brought a dog into the office I wouldn't be happy at all!

There is a huge difference between PAT dogs and pats dog

I just can’t understand, why people feel that children have too like dogs . We dont have any dogs in our family and I dont feel like they have missed out .

I genuinely do have a very gentle dog. One wee girl was petrified of dogs but I took mine to a post school event in the local park. All the children were playing with my dog and after observing the others for a while she sidled up and asked if she could have a turn throwing the ball. Her mum shuffled over and said don't let her know I'm excited but yours is the first dog she's ever played with. It was so lovely. The girl was giddy! My dog is big too! I was proud of them both.

That said, I was prepared to take her away if anyone had objected because she didn't need to be there and it wasn't a dog event!