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

Ridiculous. And I love dogs. Her personal life shouldn’t come into the classroom

Ask for the risk assessments for the dogs being the classroom, they should have one if they’re bringing animals into school. Personally I don’t agree with teachers having their dogs in class and I say that as an ex teacher. I’m fully supportive of therapy dogs being brought in occasionally as they can do wonders for some children.

Edited to add, as I said dashunds can be stubborn to train, I’m not a fan of any dog around around young children without 100% supervision and when teaching a class that supervision couldn’t happen unless they’re in crates. It’s not a breed I’d have had round my children to be honest and I would have raised serious concerns if dogs had been in the class with my children. Not all children like dogs and it’s really unfair to force this on them.

Yes, it’s a thing but usually ‘dressed up’.

Not in the UK, but in 2 of the public schools some of my kids went to here, there would be a ‘school dog’, that had turns in every classroom during the week. Supposedly it was good for the kids mental wellbeing. However, it was just one of the teachers dogs, not any sort of ‘therapy accreditation’, just a regular dog, and these were regular schools, not special needs schools.

Moving onto a private school one of mine went to, a teacher had a literal farm in the classroom. They lived in a farm and would bring orphaned/rejected lambs/goats in as they needed to be fed during the day, plus sick animals.

This is simply not acceptable. Report the teacher to the LA.

This seems v strange. I would discuss with the head and ask to move classes if your not happy with the response. The school year hasnt started yet so won't be unsettling. Ask what their insurance policy is if the dog bites or causes a child to trip and get hurt etc

My son’s school has a special needs trained cockapoo. Very cute.

I had a teacher in primary school who used to bring her dog in (hazy memory either a greyhound or whippet) that used to snooze in the corner of the classroom. On the days she didn’t bring him in, she would put a stuffed toy there and told us all she used magic to turn him into a toy! We thought he was fab and adored having him in the classroom.

My kids’s primary school, the Head brought her dog in. They would get kids to read to him to help build up their confidence.

i was a bit hmmm when she brought her dog in, but it spent most of the time in her office on the days she brought him in.

i think I felt more wary about this as an adult, probably because I’ve been bitten a couple of times by small dogs. However I.also can see the benefits of having dogs to help calm kids and encourage them to read.

I did feel it seemed unprofessional. I’m keen for my son to be comfortable around dogs but as his parent, I feel this is a little forceful. It’s a new school. New parents, new everything, and I don’t want to start off on a negative note. It just does feel super strange to me. I’m a teacher in FE and HE and never heard of this. I wanted to check it wasn’t a think in early years

What about the children who are scared of dogs. I think it’s a bit much for juniors.

This is a you problem. It'll be wonderful for your son to be around dogs, it'll prevent him ending up like you about dogs.

This should just not be allowed. What if staff or pupils did not want to work or learn around dogs? If I worked in schools I would be very unhappy about those being my working conditions, and pupils have no choice, and very little power. It’s absolutely wrong.

Are they certified PAT dogs?
DD's primary school has a school dog. She belongs to one of the teachers and is on site every dday. However she is a certified PAT (pets as therapy) dog, and therefore had rigorous training and assessments of temprement to get her certification. I wouldn't be happy to have any old dog at my child's school but i'm happy to have a PAT dog, and the kids get a lot out of it.

You do realise the LA has very little, if anything to do with the vast majority of schools these days?

Absolutely not appropriate. Dc2 is petrified of dogs, so I'd have to say something.

Honestly a trained cockapoo for occasional comfort sounds fine. Just two young sausage dogs running around the classroom with only training from their owner sends alarm bells. The more I read and write, the more I think my son needs to change class

True, but its very common in private prep schools, our local one the headmaster has a retriever, the art teacher a black lab and the history teacher a cocker, all in school every day.

Such an ignorant comment. It's really a you problem with that level of it though.

I agree with you. I wouldn’t like it either. They’re not trained service dogs. Dogs have the maturity of the average 3 year old. I wouldn’t trust them around small children.

No I didn't know that. Maybe raise it as a Health & Safety issue. The teacher needs to make other arrangementss for the care of her dog. This would infuriate me.

I completely disagree with you. You’ve clearly never taught a class of 4/5 year olds. 🙄.

Ask to see the risk assessment and ask what training the dog has had. I know schools where there is one in the office, children can visit, but not the classrooms.

I would be asking what about liability insurance and what if the dog bites a child?

We have a school dog at the school where I work. He has been assessed, is insured and there is a risk assessment. He spends all of his time in the office, apart from when he is walked on the lead on the school field. Pupils come to the office to see the dog as a reward or if they are upset etc. This is very different to a dog just roaming around a reception classroom! Which sounds ridiculous. Such young children are impulsive and could easily annoy the dog causing it to bite. Sorry but it's crazy and as a dog owner, parent and teacher the scenario you've described would be a definite no!!

Schools are no place for dogs. Why do some people think dogs need to be everywhere?

There is a school dog now at my DC school yet sounds much more like the PAT trained dogs and there was a lot of communication about why the dog will be seen in the school, every parent had to complete a form around allergies and permission or not for their child to interact with the dog

I don’t like dogs (previously bitten by one) yet the communication was clear and the way they were handling it sufficiently reassuring that I have said yes for both DCs to interact with the dog

If it was random dogs in the reception classroom for the teacher benefit essentially - honestly no. I would not want or like that at all