Childminders with dogs-advice please

[joanna4]

Hi I acquired a puppy last week I already have one dog who is mild mannered.I have an inspection due soon and I am bothered that the inspector will make a big deal out of the fact i now have 2 and not 1.
I think i am generally bothered as last inspection lasted for 7 hours plus 3 more on the phone afterwards and i was in shreds after that.
I keep the dogs seperate i tend to use the living room and the dogs are in the kitchen which is of good size.I keep the safety gate inbetween the two rooms.If we use the kitchen i put the dogs in the garden or into the front room -weather dependantis there anything i else i should do or be considering.

Have you got a policy to cover your procedures for keeping children safe from pets, and one for health and safety that covers immunisations/treatments for the dogs, hand washing after petting etc.
Have you got risk assessments and procedures for making sure the children's outside play areas are free from contamination?
Have you got a permission form for parents that explains all this and requires their signatures?
Dogs in the kitchen is a big no-no to all food hygeinists but my dog has her bed in the dining end of our kitchen and has clean bedding every two days with her food and water bowls removed and cleaned as soon as they are used and Ofsted have always been fine about this. Cats can be more of a hazard in the kitchen. I also have a food hygeine cert.

I have a food hygiene certificate but as it stands everyone brings packed lunches my 2 also have beds in the dining area.I do have a children and pets policy too.I also remove food and water bowls once used.I have read through all my stuff the handwashing and vaccinations are also covered.
The only issue at the mo is contamination in garden which is cleared up immediately as murphy cannot go out for 4 more weeks yet.During this time i will decline using the garden and use local parks etc instead. Thanks for you quick response i am probably worrying over nothing.

Joanna - poor you for such a long inspection!!! I think you must hold the record.

If you have your policies in place and parents have signed that they've been given copies, then I don't think OFSTED should have any reason to be funny about it, particularly if you had a dog at your last inspection.

We've always had a largish number of cats, and OFSTED have never had a problem with them. I've never had a written policy about them either (should I?)

What a wonderful topic, i'm a prospective childminder. Went to the briefing today, but i have a very lively dog. Any advice?? I understand about policies and hygiene stuff, but ideally want to separate dog and children initially and introduce slowly as he's very affectionate and in your face. Would this be reasonable? if i had it in writing, and that i'd separate them again if any issues, ie if child unhappy.

Well when i only had one dog I would only allow the children to pet the dog under absolute supervision but i would never allow the dog and children to mix -standard.
Now I have more than one the emphasis has shifted and I have 2 the dogs now play together lots and i would never fogive myself if one child got betweeen them so my reason for asking was if ofsted frowned upon more than one really.I am at ease with it now i have thought out the logistics of it -same as before only twice over is the way.
Of course it is lovely for children to interact with animals as some come from homes where no pets are so it gives them a sense of how to act round dogs etc and what is and isnt acceptable and everyone benefits from it.
It was funny today my mindee came and the pup looks like my bigger dog so he took one look and went -oh jo look 2 buds!

7 hours is definately a long inspection but I know a couple who had an inspector visit 3 days in a row to get everything done!

My dog died last year , but I sometimes dog-sit .

I use pet permission forms for parents to list any animals their child is allergic to or to state that their child is not allergic to any animals and to sign that they give permission for animals to visit the property.

As far as my experience with inspectors goes, they were mainly concerned that children are never left alone with animals (I have this in writing and that I will notify parents if I aquire any animals) and that the dog food was stored appropriately.

I didn't have any problems with my inspection but some parents were definately put off.

My inspection was also 7 hours long!

I have a Rotweiller and OFSTED were fine...even with regards to the garden...but then I have a seperate garden within my garden for the Mindees which animals can't get into.

I also keep the dog on a seperate floor, mainly as she's such a huge dog she could accidentally knock a toddler over...and of course because parents would be worried about a Rotweiller I'm sure.