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

Our school receptionist brings in her dog. Its an older dog and mostly sleeps in her office. The children do get to interact with him, but this is not forced. The younger children read to him. He has a part in the school play :) He is very much loved and happy. I think its brilliant for the children, and very calming :)

I bet the schools insurance company are unaware.

The teacher will ensure that there are no highly allergic children before doing so and she'll ensure nervous pupils don't have close contact unless they want to.

When will she do that? She didn't ask about allergies or discuss arrangements for nervous children at the recent meeting.

Shouldn't it have been done before classes were allocated?

I'd have thought that for allergies there would need to be forms filled in to be attached to the child's file.

To all posters with this attitude I say let children with allergies to dogs suffer with severe reactions. My child loves dogs so not my circus not my monkey. NICE🙄

The same with a peanut allergy, not my child's problem. Shame on schools that don't consider children with allergies.

Did they say the dogs are running around? Why is one kind of dog for comfort ok but not another dog?

This is so strange and I'm so surprised this is allowed. I really dislike dogs (dangerous and unhygienic) and would hate this scenario and definitely speak out. My son also doesn't like them and is possibly allergic. Lots of children are. Animals are for outside IMO. I feel the same about dog-friendly offices 🙄.

They do...kids upon entry give information about allergies...

So they do know that information. If no kids have allergies then no kids have allergies. It is all documented and kids with allergies have pics up for certain things - things like kids with celiacs means they avoid playdough etc.

If parents omitted that information on the registration forms then why are they not informing the school?

Schools have to risk assess a fart these days. Even using scissors and sand and playdough. Saying they will not have risk assessed is ludicrous.

Also considering the number of children already in the classroom she shouldn't be distracted by her dogs and focused on the children's needs.

I've never heard of a teacher doing this and I'd not be happy with this as a parent and I'd be speaking to the headteacher about it to put a stop it. That could be a very stressful situation for the dog and even if that dog is normally friendly and brilliant with children, a class of 30 plus kids would be very overwhelming and stressed out dogs bite, which puts the kids and the dog in danger.

Lie and say he's allergic.

Its absolutely ridiculous. Can you contact the council?

Exactly.

When I was at secondary school the school caretaker had a dog and people used to go and take it for a walk at lunchtime, but that was completely their choice.

Imposing them on the kids is wrong.

If they think that it's nice for some kids to pet dogs, they can provide that opportunity. But not force the issue.

Fearfulness around dogs arises from dog owners refusing to keep them under control and imposing them on other people.

If every dog a child encountered walked on by when they saw them, unless the child wanted to interact, they wouldn't be frightened. But when they run up to them, jump up at them, make them fall over and yes, potentially bite them, that makes them nervous.

It is not for the rest of us to change our behaviour, it is for dog owners to make sure their pets are well trained and do not upset other people.

However, in reality I do have to change my behaviour and avoid certain areas because I know I will encounter badly trained off-lead dogs.

We used to have animal handlers coming into school regularly they brought, snakes, big spiders, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs etc.

As this was an introductory talk for new intake she clearly doesn't know all the children well. She didn't check for allergies (which can be very severe, but even mild ones are miserable for the child if it's all the time). And given her statement about 'hoping' the second dog will be OK around the children she clearly doesn't even know her own dogs that well, never mind the children.

This won't be fun for all the children. And it will be hugely stressful for the dogs.

The difference betweenhaving a school dog and a teacher's dog being present i the classroom is that a school dog has someone responsible for their welfare at all times and who can take toe dog away from the classroom. A teacher cannot leave her class to deal with the dog's needs. School dogs also have a safe place the dog can be taken if they become overwhelmed etc.

Surely you can see the difference between a consulting room where 2 or 3 people sit quietly and there are almost always more adults than children, and a classroom with 30 4-year-olds constantly moving around and only 1 or 2 adults to supervise them all?

This is what one school says

I’m XXXXXX a female Labradoodle and I was introduced to the school environment on a part-time basis from xxxxxxx and I’ve undergone regulated training with Canine Assisted Learning.
I’m joining the school environment for the following reasons:

• To support attendance: There is a greater enjoyment of being in the school environment, improved attendance and a willingness to participate and XXXX will be on duty on the school gate.
• To support behaviour: Researchers report that students can identify with animals and, with empathy for the dog, can better understand how classmates may feel.
• To support emotional development: Dogs can be a friend for students to talk to about their problems or to help students to calm.
• To support social development: Dogs are especially useful for building self-esteem; learning about positive and negative reinforcement, responsibility and boundaries. With the presence of a ‘calm and well-trained dog’, students find social support and peer interaction.
• To support individuals: The dog can work with students on a one-to-one basis (under adult supervision) to support students going through upsetting/difficult times or even those who are scared/phobic of dogs.
• As a reward: Dogs will be gentle and loving, but at the same time be enjoyable. Students could be rewarded with spending time with the dog, walking, grooming, playing with or training her.

My wellbeing will be monitored throughout the training programme and an appropriate timetable will be developed to support my growth and development.
A policy and supporting risk assessment will also be in place.

This is totally different to what OP describes. A school dog has a "timetable" of it's own and plenty of down time.

Actually the PPS' mentions of insurance were a good shout

Given the teacher's rather casual attitude to this I'd be very surprised if the company (or even the headteacher come to that) knows about this, so an easy way out might be to ensure they do, and hope whoever you speak to isn't dog-mad too

..kids upon entry give information about allergies...

Allergies develop with exposure. If the child hasn't yet had much close contact with dogs the parents won't know, and so can't put it on the form.

My kids would too… Doesn’t mean it’s appropriate or reasonable.

Some dogs are lovely with children. A soppy gentle retriever for example. A weekly visit from a dog like that - for the children who want one - would be fine.

But this is TWO yappy little dachshunds, in a classroom full of noisy, unpredictable four year olds. Talk of allergies etc are by the by. Why should there have to be children with actual physical allergies? Why not "Hang on, school is for children not dogs".

Some people/children don't like dogs. Why should they have to have some barky dooly dog in their class?

..kids upon entry give information about allergies...
Allergies develop with exposure.

So the teacher/the school needs to have a back-up plan already in place in case any of the new intake has or develops an allergy. There should be a risk assessment covering this.

Your husband sounds as thick as the teachers (sorry ).

Dogs should not be in schools. Yes therapy dogs, trained dogs fine but not some teacher's no doubt snappy sausage dogs.

Staff, governors etc have accepted and enabled this for some bizarre reason. Please be that parent and put your foot down. Staff have to find dog care like everyone else and having unpredictable dogs in classrooms full of very young children is absolutely mental.

So kids develop allergies to playdough from playing with it for so long in reception class and so it should be banned?

A dynamic risk assessment covers this....if you know what one is.

It is a risk assessment that is ongoing. Say for instance someone says it is fine to go up a ladder and fix a roof tile but the weather that day is stormy, do you follow the risk assessment on paper and say, computer says yes or do you constantly assess the risks and change your work accordingly and say not today mate I will do it when the weather calms down as it is not safe.

Weird isn't it that when I was in hospital they had a dog...and no one developed an allergy from exposure to said dog.

Kids are not being forced to sit with the dog on their knee you know! They can choose to go to the dog. If you are that worried about kids being exposed to things and developing allergies then by all means live in a space suit.

This humanising of an animal by using "I" as if it is able to speak for me sums up this crazy attitude to dogs. Slightly gives me the 'ick........