Teacher’s dogs in classroom?

[Sunnyday14558]

Our son starts school in September. We had a meeting this evening with the new class teacher and fellow parents and the teacher dropped on that she has two sausage dogs. She said she brings one into class and is going to bring the second into class next week and ‘hopes he gets on with the kids’. All the fellow parents made a lot of ‘awww’ sounds but honestly I was a bit surprised.
is this normal in schools? She also said that if any parents were uncomfortable she’d try and work something out. I’m nervous around dogs but mostly because I have a four year old boy who doesn’t have experience being around them. I feel in an awkward situation where I don’t want to be ‘that’ parent if I say I’m not happy but equally, maybe it’s ok? So confused

How odd, I’ve never heard of this set up before!

The idea of pets in schools is not new. Hamsters, tortoise etc.
But dogs. Assistance dogs only. What breed of dog will be allowed ? Or will it just be up to the teacher.
This I think is because the teacher hasn’t got someone to look after it in the day and is dressing it up as ‘good for the children’. A cheap option.
Until one bites a child.

I dont think 'dogs running all over the place' is what will be happening.

I work a bit in an Sen school with a dog who just wanders around. I do wonder about the kids who won’t like him.

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Maybe its something like this. There are a couple of schools near me that have them. They are usually owned by one of the teachers.

I think there is a difference between bringing a dog in for children to meet it, spend time with it supervised etc and bringing dogs in that aren't used to children and just having them in the classroom whilst teaching. Particularly for that age group as there is a lot of learning through play and moving about at that age, it's not like the kids will be sitting at their desks all day and the dog will be sitting in a corner. How is the teacher meant to keep a close eye on two dogs with 30 4 year olds running around? Even if they're good tempered dogs how is she going to stop the kids that have issues or haven't learned to control their impulses from getting in the dogs space, annoying it etc. How is the teacher meant to make sure the dog isn't showing any warning signs that they aren't comfortable with any of the pupils behaviour?

Overall I think it can be a positive thing if managed well but I don't think 2 dogs, one who has never been around kids, in a room with 30 4 year olds playing, is well thought through. If this trend continues to grow one day a dog will have enough and bite. And then everyone will be asking how it was allowed to happen

Also weird to think that the teacher will know her new class of reception children so well. It takes time.
I've come out of parents evenings where it has been clear that the teacher knew very little about my child!

This is very unusual,I was at a private school which let one of the heads of dept keep two dogs in her office, but they didn’t come with her to teach. If your son is nervous around dogs this might be an opportunity to get him used to them in a safe secure space - I’m assuming they’re well behaved or the school wouldn’t allow it. Even if you don’t like dogs being able to stay calm and confident around them is actually quite useful: dogs frequently misinterpret flinching or sudden arm-jerks as a game so if you want them to bugger off you need to know understand how.

Why ? why do these staff members think they have the right to bring their pets into school, what next ? Maybe they don't want to pay for childcare so they will just rock up at school with their babies and toddlers. They are supposed to be working in a professional capacity.

Allergies? If the dog is in every day it will be shedding hair and it will build up over time. I have two kids and a husband who allergic to dogs (and we have outside farm yard dogs) and it’s the build up not the single interaction that’s the issue. Classrooms aren’t known for being that well ventilated and the dander will start to build up.

How do you know that? They are apparently not being put in a cage. Are they going to sit on a mat for 6 hours? Free play in a reception classroom means children are everywhere being busy and noisy. Its not an environment for dogs.
The sausage dog I know owned by one of my relatives has to be kept away from children as she's aggresive, as was her predecessor.
Such a stupid idea.

I do find it a bit strange.. but i have a sausage do and its the most docile dog you'll ever meet. She would never bark in this situation and she would love the attention. She sleeps ALL day long so wouldn't be disruptive but she is also very well trained. It will be good for your son to be introduced to dogs but i do still find it strange... our school is a dog free zone and i can't even take her into the playground even in my arms..

When I was a kid my doctor had three dogs in three wicker baskets in the consulting room. I used to stroke their heads as he talked to my Mum. I remember them watching as the dc listened to my chest etc. Even as a tiny kid, I told my Mum that when I left home, I wanted a dog of the same breed and that is exactly what I did. I am still obsessed with the breed even though they are not everybody's cup of tea.

I think it's lovely actually.

At all of my 3 (private) schools there were always dogs around. It's nice for the dogs and the children learn how to act around dogs and (hopefully) enjoy being with them.

I wouldn't like this either. I think asking for your son to move to a dog free class and letting the head know why is a good idea.
We have dogs in the office at my workplace and they are so distracting! I am not a dog person and it grates on me, but I did sign up for this when I took the job on. The kids have no choice.

Honestly. I bet there's a list a mile long of health and safety rules, rules about packed lunches, rules about shoes and colour of socks.

Schools usually sweat the small stuff. But sausage dogs in classrooms of very young children has been given the green light.

And teachers wonder why we think some of them are absolutely hopeless. I hope this gets in the dm and the gormless teachers <and head> are thoroughly shamed!

I don’t think it is ok without specially checking with each parent especially re allergies. We have a reading dog come in and the children love it but it is in a specific area and contained. There is a little girl in our class who is very allergic to dogs and it can’t be in her class and the kids have to wash their hands really well if they’ve seen the reading dog before coming in.

My child's primary has 3 dogs they are between the admin office and heads office. I don't know if they go into the classroom i know some children get to walk them.

My DC’s primary school has a “school dog”.

It belongs to the head teacher, and there’s a crate for it in the head teachers office. Most of the time it’s either with the head teacher or in it’s crate, so it’s not constantly with one class or one year group and it has time away from the children.

It seems to work out well enough. But having said that, I’d not be happy with a class teacher bringing a dog in and having it in her classroom all day every day.

Aside from potential issues with allergies / fear of dogs, it must be terribly distracting for both the children and the teacher to have a dog constantly there. And as pp have pointed out, Reception age children are usually fairly loud and excitable, which you’d think would be stressful for a dog too.

How awful for the little girl to be put in this position of having to spoil the fun for other kids. Kids having to wash their hands thoroughly must make her feel so awkward and humiliated. Just staggeringly bad decision making.

Weird assumption that it's not the default.

We have a school dog in school every day.

At my daughters school the headteachers and deputy head teachers dogs go in with them, it hasn’t made my 5 year old like them though in fact she just cries when they’re around them. Also a normal c of e primary

I can just imagine the pro dogs in classrooms people protesting about schools not allowing the local zoo to bring in their monkeys. After all the children would love it & it would bring joy and benifit their mental health.

As for a dog in every classroom it's utterly ridiculous. The only way I see it working is the dog in a dedicated room with a carer along with an opt in or out choice to spend time with it. Try making schools pay for that when money for education is so tight

My child has severe allergies to
pet dander so I would raise this as a health and safety matter - what if having a dog triggers an allergy in a child or a parent?