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.

Absolutely batshit. If a 3 yr old child was at nursery and fell out of a tree even if the parents had taught him to when to climb a tree and how to climb trees properly the first thing a parent would say was why wasn’t the 3 yr old properly supervised? Apparently the ratio of supervising adults to 3 yr olds is one to 4 this is because children cannot be trusted to always do the right thing ALL THE TIME.
@LandSharksAnonymous My children were brought up around horses (and dogs and cats) from birth they have literally ridden before they could walk and were told from a very early age how to be safe around horses. But I would never have left a 3 yr old unsupervised around a pony (or a dog) even for a minute. Neither can be trusted 100% of the time. You own dogs and have taught you’re children to be safe around them although I think your delusional if you think a 3 yr old can be left unsupervised just because you’ve told them how to behave around dogs. Butt many parents don’t own dogs and I dont believe it is there responsibility for them to teach their children how to behave correctly around a dog (many parents don’t know themselves) the responsibility lies with the dog owner to not put their dog in a situation where it might bite a child especially a CM. And let’s face it many dog owners dont know how to behave around their own dog’s hence the rise in the need for behaviourist and endless TV programmes about badly behaving dogs. Many owner are unable to read dog body language and the line between dog and human has become increasingly blurred over the last few years.

Sorry this CM needs reporting to Ofsted. If she has a dog, it should be locked out of the way whilst children are there in such a way that the children can't get to it. Ie a locked room.
She is failing to keep the children in her care safe. The situation could have been so much worse.
I'm glad you are not allowing your daughter to return. Please don't pay any money to her for notice period, as she has created the situation.

Your right the dog is not a fault neither is the child or the parent the CM is at fault for allowing the situation to arise.
My young dog is a herding dog he would chase/herd livestock we’ve got livestock everywhere and so I’m super vigilant when I’m out. If he did chase then it wouldn’t be his fault or the livestocks fault it would be mine. I have a friend her dog also chases livestock she less vigilant than me and her dog chased cows the other day (she owns the cows) she was cross with the dog because he disobeyed the training shes doing but IMO it’s completely her fault dogs (horses and ponies) and 3yr olds are not machines you can teach them things but none are “bullet proof”.

Can you speak to Ofsted? I'm not sure how that could work but I don't think this can be consdiered a safe environment for children and it's going to happen to another child if steps aren't taken.

And this is why I would never use a childminder. You won’t find a dog at nursery, you won’t find a random stranger or friend of the teachers popping in for a visit. And those who say, they are not allowed, how would you even know? Also older kids who bring their friends over? Children of different ages and different needs? I would just place your dd in a nursery. Hopefully she is ok now!

I used to be a dog walker and one of my clients was a childminder. She had children in her care as young as 4 months old. She had a lovely easy going Lab but I never felt comfortable knowing he was around young children. As a lifelong dog owner I know only too well how the most docile dogs can turn at the drop of a hat from something as simple as an ear infection and old dogs are no exception.

No childminder should be in business with a dog in their house unless it is securely kept away from the children.

Sorry this happened to your dd and I hope it doesn't scare her off dogs in the future.

@LandSharksAnonymous that’s just total BS. Three year olds are unpredictable and even if they have been schooled in how to behave around animals, children are excitable and forget things and are in an environment with other children having a good time and shouldn’t be relied upon to remember how to behave perfectly around animals . None of this is the child’s fault or the OPs fault or the dogs fault. The CM is totally to blame, no child should have access to an animal unsupervised as dogs (like children) are unpredictable and not trustworthy. Personally I’d be outraged and report it for the same of other children that might be in her care, now or in the future.

The child was in the care of the childminder. The childminder is in the wrong for not supervising the child around the dog. Had she been doing her job properly, the child wouldn’t have entered the room unsupervised and this injury wouldn’t have happened.

My 3 year old hasn’t been around many dogs and is a gentle boy but no way in hell would I risk leaving him unsupervised with a dog. My classmate got her leg mauled as a child by the family dog, completely unprovoked.

This is one of many reasons I wouldn’t use a childminder. I’ve been to many a playgroups and seen the kids of childminders be completely ignored while they sit and gossip. I was at one playgroup where an older kid kicked a baby in the head and the childminder was in the other room nattering. She would have been completely unaware hadn’t other people witnessing it and telling her.

You should never have allowed her to be at a childminder with a dog unless it is a certified therapy/assistance dog.

I was a childminder for 12 years pretty much all through my DC's younger years. I was desperate for a dog but knew it wasn't compatible to childminding in our house. I looked into it and dogs had to be physically separated from mindees so this exact sort of thing is avoided and my house wasn't big enough to do this.

I would be furious if this happened to my child and wouldn't be sending back or as you've said paying notice.. I would be asking what steps they are taking to ensure this doesn't happen again and it that means paying for doggy day care on childminding days to save dog being pts I would expect this.

My son was bitten on the face, similar injury to your little one. The hospital HAVE to report dog bites no matter the severity. SS will contact you so will local police. also the childminders.

Hope your little one is ok x

This is the route I’d be taking. Find new Childcare and report officially to Ofsted.

Have you given notice at the CMs yet and if so, what has she said?

It is a safeguarding matter. In my previous life I have investigated childminders where children have been injured in their care. It wouldn’t be acceptable if it happened in a nursery setting and a CM is held to the same standards. Please report it OP.

Give over.

I actually know of a nursery that had a puppy in the nursery with babies and toddlers because nursery owner couldn't leave it at home alone. That nursery got reported to Ofsted.

It's always risky to have small children with dogs.

Friends of ours had a very placid and friendly dog. An older dog that never bit anyone in their life. Not even a "fighting dog", a normal breed.

Until one day it bit their 5 year old son in the cheek.

I would definitely report this childminder and wouldn't send your daughter back.

OP, regardless of the circumstances your CM needs reporting to Ofsted. Leaving a child and a dog unsupervised is a major safeguarding fail. Your CM should be reporting this herself to Ofsted.

Have just read the updates. Hope all goes well. I have been on both sides of the coin. Rescue dog who bit other people,guarded my DD. Peter from a puppy bit me one day, PTS. We've always had dogs since I was 13. These 2 were PTS, after several years of hard work training, not helping. My oldest DD actually told me some years ago, she used to hit the dog! I've witnessed awful dog attack damage in the ED. Recently had dgd 3 to stay, she's always known my dogs,was a bit nervous of one, I never ever left her in the room,thank god...at one point,she's sitting on the floor drawing,then jabbing the dogs face with the pencil!

A dog isn’t always put down when reported to the police - it depends on the extent on the damage, the circumstances and to a large extent who deals with the claim. If the police say your dog has to be PTS you can challenge it in court. Usually for something like this they would want something put in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again (like muzzling) or they may also look to rehome the dog if they feel it was the environment.

I grew up around animals and have had them all my life (dad’s a vet) - I have been accidentally caught by a dogs teeth when playing with toys or sticks but never really had it pierce skin. If the skin is pierced it’s usually an intentional bite - albeit it sounds relatively mild. The main thing I would be worried about is that it is an elderly dog that has never bitten before - some dogs when they go a little senile can get nervous and a nervous dog can be a dangerous dog. Dogs that are ill and in pain may bite as they have a lot of discomfort.

My aunt’s lovely docile lab had cataracts and went quite nervous in it’s old age - it bit a few people when they entered the room it was in or came up behind it so it had to be PTS. With a young dog you would consider training, muzzling etc… but with an elderly dog it can be part of a decline. If I was your child minder I would bring the dog to the vets for a check up to make sure it doesn’t have any underlying health issues.

Some dogs, like people, are also just grumpy and more likely to lash out, particularly if they are spoiled! Your child minder should not have left a dog and a child unsupervised.

@Jugglingitall85please inform Ofsted and send them photos. It is for them to decide what to do but it could save this happening to another child.

My mother was a nanny in the 1940s. She adored dogs herself. One of her inflexible rules though about looking after children was that they were never left alone with a dog without adult supervision. She kept this rule with my children even though her spaniel was a big softy and endlessly patient with children. Of course children were taught how to behave around dogs - to be gentle with them, never bother them when they were eating etc. I can't imagine how this was allowed to happen by the childminder.

Nope.
When you send a child to a professional to care for it, that person is fully responsible for making space SAFE for children.

Having dogs around children is not safe in professional setting, unless you have specially trained dog.

Even in your own home it is not advised to leave children preschool age alone with animals.

And quite frankly, it is. By three children should know how to behave around pets. Regardless of what happened and why, OP should accept that.

@LandSharksAnonymous well first starter, it’s quite hard to teach a 3yo how to behave around pets if you/grand parents don’t have any at home.
So stop trying to point fingers towards the OP saying it’s all down to bad parenting. It’s not.

Then EVEN IF the child was used to be around animals, 3yo are impulsive. They shouldn’t be left around animals if they’re not under supervision. That child wasnt.

You really sound like one of those dogs owners who think poor dog can’t do anything wrong and it’s all the fault of the person/child if something happens because they should have ‘known’. Stuff that.

@Jugglingitall85 as others have said, please report the incident.
This is simply not a safe environment for any child.

As an aside, has the CM contacted you to check how your dd is? Any apologies (not the ‘she must have come in brusquely into the room’) but proper apologies and letting you know what she is planning to do to protect the children, all of them?
Because I think it also says a lot on how she is ‘evaluating’ the situation….