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

I’d hope she didn’t wonder if the dog would be ok with the children.if there’s any doubt, she should have it in a cage ,,In fact, it should be in a cage anyway, with the other one .
We had days when we were allowed to take our dogs to class, which was great fun …we were the pupils btw…but only a day or two a year

This is insane. My child doesn't like dogs, and the ones who do would be massively distracted.

Id tell them my child was allergic. Maybe if someone in the other class does the same it wont be allowed in.

This doesn’t sound like a request for a support dog. This is someone bringing their 2 pets in.

A single genuine assistance dog eg guide dog, hearing dog, medical alert dog would be covered by legislation. It’s very rare for dachshunds to do this job.

Emotional support animals are not covered by legislation.

As a kid until about 13 I was violently allergic to animal dander, hair and spit. But obviously I adored animals so I'd still end up touching them and my face would swell up like a balloon and water would stream out of my nose and eyes and I'd break out in hives. My eyes would swell shut!

I do think that exposure to it probably did help my allergies clear up. But it would be awful for one of the little kids to have that reaction.

Very much depends. We have a dog at the school (belongs to one of the teachers but he has been coming to the school since he was a puppy so is very used to the children and they love him).

Yes the no choice aspect is what has upset me the most. Reading about it online, there’s no law against having a dog in the classroom. My husband, who unfortunately is usually fairly accurate with these things, has said they’ll probably just say it’s a lovely dog and that we can’t move class because spaces have already been allocated and another child would have to move to accommodate it. I how he’s wrong

And sometimes repeated exposure makes the allergic reaction worse. You were lucky. This is survivor bias. Your experience isn’t typical.

I find this genuinely incredible that this is happening in primary schools - and we have a dog, I love dogs, and my DC love dogs.

DC's school had one day - in mental health week - when a TA brought in their trained therapy dog. There was a whole consent form about it and any class where kids had allergies did the meet and greet outside. I cannot imagine a situation where non-specially trained, unleashed dogs were just wandering around. And nor would I be happy with it tbh - even the mildest dog can bite on a bad day, and some kids don't know how to behave around animals.

Jesus, I'd never have gone to school again, it's absolutely psycho behaviour to take a python in for children to play with.

Oh gawd yeah I know that. I just thought I should point out I did get over it. But I actually have no idea if exposure helped or not. I spent years in agony with it and certainly wouldn't want anyone else to go through that, as I said.

Ask to change classes , talk to the head teacher , telephone local education authority and say you have concerns ( even if you remain anonymous )

i should have said - I’m glad you don’t have that any more. It really is awful.

This doesn;t sound right.

Thew SENCO at the secodry school ds went to had a dog she brought in but it was trained, the kids loved her & before she was brought into school the parents were given updates with regards to the training etc. She lived in the SEN department and was used at specific times for specific children.

Im surprised its allowed unless the dog has some kinda service training to help calm kids.

Id ask to see the risk assessment done -

Allergies
Bites
Phobias
Insurance for any of the above
Distraction from learning

How is the teacher supervising individuals with the dog and the rest of the class?

Whats the learning outcome of this animal coming in?

And i love dogs. Id love to get to play with a dog and work, but it would distract me from working at work

Yes, this^^

They are a breed that tends to bond very strongly to one person and can be a bit aggressive and territorial towards people they don't know.

A lot of small people running around in close proximity to them, unless these particular dachshunds are particularly well trained, sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

I would not be happy about this at all.

That seems crazy to me and I’m a dog lover with one of my own and a reception aged DD. Her school has a completely vetted, older and very reliable “reading dog” who I think the older kids can read to sometimes (DD has never mentioned this) one on one but a load of clumsy 4 yo s many with no dog experience or understanding, just wandering around with 2 small dogs ( one unvetted in that situation) is just not good for the dogs or kids. I’d maybe have a chat to the head about it if possible and ask for the risk assessment they’ve (surely?!) done.

I work providing technical services, so frequent many schools, but rarely talk to teachers and have only stroked / said hello to the dogs, no idea on the philosophy.

One secondary (state) also has two free ranging cats, who are a huge hit with the kids. Like Larry the cat they are a fixture of the school rather than any staff member and the latest in a constant line of school cats going back to ww2

There might not be a law but there HAS to be a school policy, risk assessment and insurance. I would ask to see these.

Fearfulness around animals is learned behaviour - do your best not to pass it on to your son. Does he like meeting friendly dogs when out and about? If so, let him. Most children love animals and get a lot out of both pets and seeing wild animals if given the chance.

Provided your child doesn't have allergies I don't see the problem.
A lady in my estate is afraid of dogs she told me but I can't remember why, she's anxious anyway though so I do sympathise but her son has had no negative experiences with dogs is also terrified of dogs because of her. Her son, is good friends with my son and cannot come anywhere near our house because of his fear of dogs. There are dogs everywhere on the streets and especially since COVID when the dog population seemed to double. I am mindful of people being nervous of dogs when I am out and when people come into my home, but if I had a chance to ensure my child was not going to be nervous of dogs I would take it.

1. Dog surrounded by rowdy children all day. Not a great environment for it.
2. People with allergies.
3. People who are nervous around dogs.
4. Disruption by the dog/teacher/children all being distracted by each other.
5. Potential for harm for dog and children - I would have thought that any caring and responsible dog owner would not want to put their pet in a position where it could potentially snap at/injure a child. Could lead to dog being put down.

Those are my immediate concerns. I would be worried that people would think i was being precious or difficult but ultimately I'd still raise it and i bet parents also have concerns quietly.

Let's not pretend she's doing it for the wellbeing of the kids, she just can't be bothered to pay for a dog walker

This ... and it seems she didn't even pretend, with the "hopes he gets on with them" and she'd "try to work something out" if parents were uncomfortable

Much as I like them, this thing of having dogs absolutely everywhere is getting ridiculous and I'd certainly be having a word with the headteacher/governors

It really is simple! The school will not be insured for any dog related incidents. Ask the head about the insurance . . ,

Do you know one of them isn’t trained? If so, that's particularly egregious.
But that aside, the school is just asking for trouble. Dachshunds are great dogs, but they're strong characters with a definite mind of their own. Even a well-trained and socialised one is a tricky proposition around a busy room full of kids IMO.
All it will take is one kid to (deliberately or not) poke one of them in the eye/pull a tail or similar, a growl or a snap as the dog (quite naturally) tries to defend and assert itself, and the school will be in the shit.

Yes, I do wonder if the head even knows? If they do then they are pretty clueless. I'd be tempted to go straight to the governors.