Childminder with dog

[Wuffler]

Have found a lovely child minder for my 18m old DD. Everything is perfect but she has two labradors in the house along with the kids.

She keeps them separate. The dogs have their own inside and outside area separated from the kids using stair gates.

The kids can roam freely in several rooms and the garden so I doubt she can have eyes on all of them all the time.

Would it bother you? Especially if she seems perfect in every way?

Also, does anyone know if dogs make wheezing worse (in the absence of any known allergy).

I wouldn’t, accidents happen.

I would never consider a childminder with a dog but then I don’t like dogs anyway so would be a no from me

She would have had to risk assess everything and I’m assuming someone from the LA and even Ofsted has visited her home and deemed it safe. If it’s not for you, fair enough, but plenty of outstanding childminders have dogs and are incident free!

It’s a no from me

It would be fine for me.

I’d check the ofsted report but if the dogs are definitely always separate to the kids then I’d consider it but then I love dogs.

Choose another one without a dog especially if child has chest issues.

l’ll go against the grain here - I sent my son to a childminder with a dog (bichon frise) and it was part of the home, not separated from the children under care.
No problems at all - my son loved the dog, would cuddle her and even get into the dogs bed! Also, it meant he got a doggy fix at her house which meant pressure was off us to get one!
Labs are particularly family friendly so I would encourage you child to play with them if that’s allowed. Children who spend time with animals at a young age are much less prone to allergies as they get used to all the hair/germs etc.

My two went to a childminder with, at first, one dog, and then a second. They loved it and meant they got out and about a lot on walks.

Her ofsted rating is outstanding. I love dogs too but I'm slightly worried about them being in the house just separated by gates. Especially since she can't see all the kids all the time (I assume). She has been a childminder for about ten years without any incident though so I'm wondering if I'm just being paranoid.

Do labs shed a lot? Will they make the wheezing worse (in the absence of any allergy I mean)?

She is so lovely. If it wasn't for the dogs I'd start DD immediately with her.

I know labs are very gentle and family friendly and a few years ago I thought it's great for kids to grow up with dogs. Now after all the recent news reports I wonder what might happen in the worst case. Even with the gentlest of dogs kids might pull the dogs tail or unknowingly annoy or provoke them somehow. And then the dog might react.

No absolutely not. Mummy mum used to look after my daughter one or two days a week and she had a dog but my mum was extremely conscious, so usually the dog would be outside whilst they were inside, or theyd be upstairs whilst the dog was in and she never took her eyes of DD. I wouldn't trust a childminder with multiple children to have the same attention when there's dogs about.

My CM has a dog in her household. It's a small dog and was got as a puppy about 18 months ago. My CM had a menagerie of pets anyway. The dog is kept separately when the CM has a full complement of children. On the few days it is just been my DD then she's been on a walk with the dog.

I would want to see how the dogs act around small children as the friends, neighbours and acquaintences dogs my DD has been around all backed away when DD was smaller if she came near them. (The cats did the same as well.) Now she is 4 they don't but she knows to leave them alone.

Absolutely not.

This tells you everything you need to know: she lacks appropriate judgement and is unfit to care for your child.

You are over the top.

My childminder had three massive dogs. German shepard, husky cross and and collie type mutt. They never barked. They was always around the kids and we'll behaved without hearing the cm raise her voice. She was a model dog owner. We don't have a dog but my son is so relaxed and therefore assertive around any dog now. So to me, if the dogs are chilled and the owner is and the dogs don't bark or jump up I think it's fine. Any jumping up or barking wildly at the door and I'd not do it. But that's just my take. We have never owned a dog when parents ourselves. I used to have a dog. I think that helps in my mind knowing that a dog sees its place in the pack ( childminder is firmly the alpha).

Nope. I’m not willing to leave my child in the care of someone who thinks this is in any way okay.

The dogs are behind dog gates.

I actually had a CM myself who had a large dog which was kept behind dog gates in it's own area. Myself, the other children and the dog were not allowed to mix at all as the dog was large breed who could easily knock us over.

My DD actually gets to mix with her the dog at her CM's but it depends on the number of children of children around.

I am going to play devils advocate here and say don't take too much notice of the ofsted grading that's only a 3-4 hour snippet of a childminders day (I am a childminder) go by your gut feeling and how happy the children they care for seems. So many childminders I know have been downgraded at inspection because the inspector has a certain big bare so automatically downgrades...so many have also been told by the inspector they personally don't give outstanding grades (I was one of those) and so many pull it out the bag all bells and whistles solely for the inspector!
I don't have a dog he has passed away now but when I did he had his own shed and run in the garden where he would go all day while the minded children were there, he never even came on a walk with us, not because I didn't trust him but because I couldn't trust what the children would do.

Do labs shed a lot?

Yes you will get covered in dog hair. Though the dog breeds I've lived with have been hairer.

Will they make the wheezing worse

Being around pets is suppose to decrease allergies but no-one can tell.

Our childminder has labrador. He stays upstairs during the day mostly. Sometimes he comes down early and will be outside having his tea outside while the children watch him inside from the French doors. I have never had any concerns about it because I know they are completely separate and when they do see him it's with a glass door between them or he is on a lead. He is also extremely well trained.

There is no way we will ever have a dog ourselves and my child loves dogs so it's a good way for her to see a dog without us having anything to do with him.

@SunnySaturdayMorning so by that logical all pet owners are negligent parents?

If they let their animals have free roam around their children, yes.

I would be fine with this as long as they are separated. But I might be biased, because we have a retriever.

If she wasn't keeping them separate, I would not be comfortable, but it sounds like her set up works.

Do you have any other options? If you feel uneasy about it, maybe it's better to look for some other place.

My DS grew up with dogs, slept with them and I only just stopped him eating from their bowls once - silly idiots were perfectly happy to let him. I have to say my ds hardly has a day's illness in his life - he just doesn't get ill. Neither do I and I grew up with dogs and still have two.

As long as I could go along and meet the dogs, have a play and get to know their natures I'd be perfectly happy for my ds to have gone to a childminder with dogs.