Childminder's dog has bitten DD

[Jugglingitall85]

Last week my childminder's dog bit my DD on the face. What would you do? I feel like I have lost trust in their judgement and allowing this to happen.

Really? Claims. She’s just turned 3. Of course 3 yr olds do silly things. Or do you think they have the same mental reasoning as adults.

This thread has a really high percentage of crazy people on it. You've got everything from people threatening to kill dogs to people believing a three year old should be some sort of dog behaviour expert 😂

Yes let’s blame the innocent three year old. Not either of the adults or the vicious dog. Nobody was there when it happened - it could have been totally unprovoked.

I haven’t RTWT just OP. I would report to children’s social services, this needs to be investigated and the CM should not have any other children in her care whilst it is. This is neglect by a professional and the LADO needs to have oversight of it.

A few years ago my OH was working for a delivery company, bathroom parts, he took the radiator in with permission as it was bloody huge, and they had two yappy chiwawa things and one jumped up and took a bite near his nether regions (I'm sure that would have been a different story) but it was nasty, bleeding, teeth marks and required a tetanus shot and some small stitches. His manager reported it the the police and asked my OH if he wants the dog PTS. My OH wasn't really happy to make that decision but was concerned about it going for a child in future. Anyway it ended up that it was put on record and if that same dog did anything like that again it would be put down automatically. So I would definitely report it and state you don't want it PTS but if it were to happen again it would be out of everybody hands.

Then why did you send her to a childminder with a dog?

I wasn’t blaming your child. I was blaming you and saying you were as negligent (given your child ‘does silly things’ and ‘may have been rough’) as the childminder. The fact you think it’s okay that your child doesn’t know how to act around household pets makes it even worse IMO that you put her with a childminder with a dog.

yes, the childminder is at fault but you are also responsible for what happened

A dog bite to the face when the child and dog were unsupervised isn't minor.

It's a major issue and it needs reporting to Ofsted for the protection of all the children that minder minds going forward.

Absolute rubbish. Three year old can be taught not to touch dogs they don’t know that they need to be gently etc but thrt cannot be relied on to do this all the time the onus to keep both the 3 yr old child and dog safe lies with the supervising adult. The whole thing implies insufficient supervision of both child and dog. Secondly assuming the OP is getting the full story children do run into rooms this is normal behaviour and who would want there child to go to a child minder where they couldn’t run into a room.
So CM is totally at fault here not the child or the dog. The OPs daughter and the dog itself should not have been put in the situation. Anyone with a grain of common sense would know that children especially three year old run around, and assuming the story is correct dogs get startled especially old ones, and can snap/bite. Other posters justify what the dog did by saying the child might have tormented the dog for hours and the dog finally snapped the bloody CM if she was any good shouldn’t allow that too happen (neither should parents).
Personally I dont agree with the hysterical calls to PTS, the dog was behaving like a dog so is not at fault and the child like a child so is equally not at fault but I would report the CM to Ofstead and definitely not take my child there again.

I have a relative who was a childminder, and as far as I know, dogs must be kept well away from the children. Their dog had to be in a closed pen in the garden with a kennel for shelter, during business hours, when the children were there, he was not a vicious or unpredictable dog. This was a stipulation of registration.

No, a three year old would not be expected to understand how to properly act around animals- which is why we supervise them at all times.

This CM wasn’t watching a child in her care. The dog bit a child’s face- that dog should never be allowed around children again.

OP, I would inform the council about your concerns . I’d feel awful if I didn’t say something and another child was injured.

I am actually so surprised by the amount of people who place all the blame on the childminder and none on OP - who either knowingly sent her child, who doesn’t know how to behave around dogs, to a childminder with dogs (which let’s be honest, even if the child DID know is foolish) or didn’t properly check.

NO. For the millionth time - the child is not to blame, but OP certainly needs to cop to her share. And that has been my point throughout.

@TwinklySquid @beardediris

You clearly either dont have children or know absolutely nothing about child development 3 year old can be taught/told not to do things but their brains are not developed sufficiently to consistently and reliably follow out what they’re been taught 100% of the time hence why parents are told not to leave small children and dogs unsupervised. You wouldn’t let a 3 year old cross a road unsupervised just because they could walk and talk.
I can see you argument that the OP chose a CM with a dog but if I had done that I would assume that the CM had been instructed by whoever inspects her to keep the dog away from her mindees at all times to prevent things like this kind of thing happening.

So what was the arrangement around the dog supposed to be? Was it supposed to be kept outside while DD is there? In a room she can't access? I'd be asking why whatever the arrangement was supposed to be wasn't kept to

I don’t agree the OP might be teaching her child how to safely cross a road but I doubt t she’s sat there and asked the CM if she’s supervising her child when crossing a road or continuing them teaching how to cross safely. It’s basic common sense stuff. Ditto dogs assuming the OP knew she even had one then I would have thought that it’s entirely reasonable to assume that the CM at the very least properly supervised dog and child or at best kept them apart at all times. Anyone who know anything about dogs knows that even the best trained dog can do the wrong thing and so can 3 yr olds.

@beardediris actually, I breed dogs and have kids. At one point I had a litter of puppies, three adult dogs and two kids under five. So I do know what I’m talking about when it comes to kids and dogs.

And it may be a shock, but my kids have never been bitten nor been hurt in anyway. Part of that is teaching my kids how to act around dogs from when they are incredibly young (which OP has failed to do) part of that is vigilance (which the childminder failed) and part of that is just being a responsible adult and not setting a child up to fail (which both failed).

It’s awful what happened to OPs child - and I do not deny that - but OP does have to admit to her share of the blame.

This is one of the most batshit things I've ever read on here

How you choose to risk assess your own dogs and your own children is down to you. This is not the case for an Ofsted registered business—they must follow the strict guidelines at all times.

It’s the same principle as kitchens—we can make our own hygiene risk assessments in our own home kitchens, but as soon as we’re running a business that serves the public, we must adhere to the food safety laws.

Something very similar happened with DS’s childminder years ago. The dog got spooked while the children were playing and bit a toddler.

It wasn’t the dog’s fault (they’d bought the dog fairly recently and it wasn’t used to children jumping around) and it wasn’t the toddler’s fault. It was 100% the CM’s fault as she wasn’t supervising properly.

What was the outcome?

We left the CM. The bite was light. The parents of the toddler decided to remain with the CM

That is shocking. It needs to be reported. It is a serious matter. She could lose her registration. You could sue her as she should have insurance.

Without question I would

Report to police.

Report to ofsted.

Ensure my child is attended to by an appropriate health care setting and thd dog bite is recorded on their medical records as happened in childcare setting by childminders dog.

Seek appropriate compensation through legal channels (childminder should be isured)- particularly if there is scarring to the face as you won't know what long term effects this may have on your child going forward

I would absolutely absolutely sue.

I guess it depends if the dog bit or was asleep, she startled it and got hit with a tooth (which has happened to me). If there is a single mark then that is probably the case.
If it bit her then that's a no brainer, but if she startled it and got in the way of a normal reaction then it's a lesson learned.
I know this is a controversial view but sometimes it's not the dog's fault and the dog shouldn't have to pay the ultimate price for a child blundering into them