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

It’s a terrible idea even though I love dogs myself. My son with ADHD would have been endlessly distracted by the dog and found every excuse to comment on its every move.

There is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog, and if anyone was telling me this I would know they were not fit to risk assess.

My local primary has a school dog (HT dog). There’s an extensive risk assessment in the website but still if the dog falls asleep they tie the lead to a table in the classroom . For children with allergies they just say ‘it’s a hypoallergenic dog’ and they’ll just not let the child near. It’s the reason I chose a different school.

I love dogs, my children have grown up with them and very comfortable around dogs, but I still wouldn’t be happy with that at all. That’s not a situation to benefit the children, that’s for the teacher’s benefit. Children might be allergic, I have friends with children absolutely terrified of dogs, they will be distracting. I can’t believe the school allow it.

Exactly. I know one reacted to a so called ‘hypoallergenic’ dog before so it’s not true

I think you're right to seek more information & clarification.
Theres a difference between the teacher bringing her dogs to work so she doesn't have to pay a dog walker & the dogs being used as therapy dogs/learning support. I believe this would require training on both parts (dog & teacher)
They can be great for anxious/ADHD kids & those that struggle with reading. It shouldn't be assumed that all kids benefit though.

If it's the case that they are just in the classroom with her for her benefit then that would just be a distraction for her & the kids. A therapy/learning dog would come in occasionally eg for a couple of hours or an afternoon.

You do sound quite anxious & afraid of dogs which is likely to be passed on to your DC so they may benefit from being socialized around well behaved dogs from a young age.

Definitely ask questions though!

Id be really unhappy about this. My son was really scared of dogs aged 4 so it would have made him even more reluctant to go to school. Not sure why he was so scared - he's much better now.

Id probably be ok with a well thought out visit from a well trained dog (although my son aged 4 probably might have freaked out but perhaps it would have helped him get over fear) but there's no way a dog should be in the classroom everyday. Doesn't seem great for a dog either.

Our school has rabbits - but they are outside and the children only occasionally get to interact with them.

60 years ago our headmaster brought his little dog Scottie into school. It would be positive if your son was confident around dogs, there are literally millions in the country, no avoiding them completely.

Right, so the teacher has a dog but noone to look after it in the day / doesnt want to pay daycare fees so she brings her dog into school with her? Absolutely crazy. I definitely would have said something at the time and since you haven't Id raise it with the head now. Its just unacceptable for so many reasons. Theres no way a daschund would be a therapy dog. They are known to be aggressive and snappy. Its not fair on the dog either having to tolerate 20 over excited 4 year olds wanting to stroke it. Its a recipe for disaster. They're also notoriously difficult to train, my friends still piss and shit in the house despite huge ongoing efforts to train them. Honestly I cant believe the cheek of the woman. If you cant afford daycare and you work full time you shouldn't have a dog.

0/10.

There is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog. They all have dander. My brother had a so called hypoallergenic dog. Those with a dog allergy were delighted to visit him & finally be around a dog which didn't cause their symptoms. The minute the dog licked then they broke out in hives due to the components of the saliva. This plus all dogs produce dander which is another cause of the allergy.

I work in primary schools, my job moves me around, and there are many schools with a ‘school dog’. There’s also a high school I know with a dog.

Some people are saying dogs help with reading - how? I get it might make some children calmer but there are lots of options for calming children that don't involve dogs. (Also a dog would not have made child me calm at all - would have been distracted with fear and sneezing).

UK village primary school here - Head has a medium sized dog she brings in every day. I think it sometimes visits classrooms etc but mostly kept in her office all day. I was surprised in this day and age it was acceptable tbh as it just takes one incident where the dog could react badly and cause injury to a child.

a couple of the schools we viewed had school dogs, but they were specially trained dogs which would come in just for the children to read to them - not just in the class all day.
Also, whilst I’m sure many are lovely and well trained, my experience with Dashunds I’ve encountered are not great - they’ve been territorial and grumpy (and I’ve seen a couple of bites from them).

A dog that is very good tempered in a home environment will not necessarily be very good tempered stuck in a room with 30 screaming 4 years for 6 hours every day. And tying up a dog in a corner on a leash isn’t going to help a dog stay calm - on the contrary, or are you expecting the teacher to walk round the classroom with a dog on a lead all the time.

I’m a good tempered adult and I don’t think I’d be good tempered as a reception teacher, but as an adult I can be trusted the regulate that… you couldn’t do that with a dog.

This isn’t about instilling fear of dogs into children. I have dogs and think it’s healthy for children to be introduced and be comfortable around them from a young age… but this isn’t the way to do it.

And as for “parents these days”… actually we’re a lot more accepting of dogs in school these days than we were in the past. I wasn’t acceptable when I was at school in the 80/90s for instance.

This is becoming much more of a thing, along with dogs everywhere- cafes, shops, trains, even the library the other day! I love dogs and have had dogs my entire adult life (currently have an Irish wolfhound), but they really don’y need to go everywhere with their owners, including into school. In my experience the teachers who push for having their dog(s) at school are really just trying to find an excuse to take their pets with them as they haven’t been trained well
enough to be comfortable staying at home
by themselves. My sons prep had a sausage dog ‘therapy’ dog, which was very sweet natured, but to be fair it lived with the deputy head in her office / rooms and only really came out on a lead at home time.

The boys secondary school has also had various ‘school dogs’ mostly anxious spaniel types, the last of which was quite elderly and had horrific diarrhoea all over the quad and stopped the children playing out there at breaktime! I think a few parents complained and so that one vanished but a few weeks later another teacher started bring her new puppy in as a school dog! As if a busy school is a good environment for a puppy! My boys love dogs but I know there are boys there who are allergic or are scared of dogs.

In your situation I would ask for a meeting with the teacher and / or head and talk through why it’s necessary to have two dogs in a classroom of 4 and 5 year olds.

Why should the majority miss out for a tiny percentage of people who don't want something?

It’s one thing for a dog to be in the Head’s office most of the day and only encounter children now and again with the Head directly supervising the dog, it’s quite another for it to be stuck in a reception class all day when the teacher will have their work cut out supervising 30 children!

Assistance dogs fine. Other dogs no. School is not a place for teachers to bring their pets in because it is cheaper than getting someone to look after it. Accident waiting to happen.

I like dogs, but I wouldn't be pleased with this. They're a distraction for one, I don't think it's allergy safe and most importantly, even 4yos who do have experience around dogs can get it wrong, even with adults around. I also don't like daschunds - they're touchy, ferocious little things so I wouldn't be happy with that, either. I think the whole set up is a very bad mix. My husband is also extremely wary of dogs - he'd pull a child out rather than risk this.

I went to naice schools where staff brought in dogs. You'd occasionally see them around - but NEVER in classrooms.

This would never be allowed at my ex school my boss/headteacher hates dogs. I'm not a massive dog lover so I wouldn't like this.

Bringing a dog in on a one-off basis, yes. Providing there is a plan so individual children can be elsewhere in school if needed, and for the dogs if they don't like being there.

The OPs children may be fine, other children may not be and the teacher will be unaware.

It is this reason that I wouldnt want 30 four year old kids around my dog 😂 I appreciate I am the opposite side to your argument

The teacher has no idea that those kids will behave around the dog and not torment (intentionally or not). I wouldnt risk my dog.

Kids especially young ones need to be supervised around dogs. A few kids for a bit, fine. But thirty of them all day? While you're also teaching?

I am appalled by this. Is there no end to the entitled attitude of dog owners? Is there nowhere to get away from the darned things? What next? ... theatres, hospitals, parliament? It is madness.

This decision takes away choice for parents and is wholly unprofessional. What is worst is the fact that the dog mafia make the OP feel she cannot speak up for fear of being ostracised or criticised.