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krisE
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Location: Bristol, UK
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08-06-2013, 10:53 PM

Dog in school

Hi,
I have recently got a lovely cockapoo puppy.
I Am a primary school teacher in a private school, and mentioned to my head that it might be nice for the kids if the puppy came in with me a couple of times a week. I have a lovely secure garden just outside my classroom where I could put a shelter so that children would only have contact with the dog when supervised and if they/ their parents agreed.
I have a couple of children with emotional/ anxiety issues and I think it would be really good for them. (After puppy training and a few more months of testing her temperament - she seems pretty calm and affectionate and is learning very quickly, but we have only had her a fortnight!)
Does anyone have experience of this or know of any legal implications? E.g liability insurance etc?
Thanks for any advice/ info
(I am in school for about 4 hours a day and have a break in between)
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Tang
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08-06-2013, 11:01 PM
Welcome to Dogsey. All I can offer is to say that when in the UK last year visiting my kids and going to the same school with their kids that they went to ... I was surprised to learn that ALL DOGS are banned from school premises. Even at the gates and in the playground even if on leads.

When my kids went to this school I used to take our GSD with me to meet them from school.

Just in case you haven't researched the rules and regs. It might be different for 'visiting dogs' I've no idea.

I was saying 'hey I'm taking the dog out now anyway I will get the kids from school and we can walk her together'. My son said 'no mum I will have to come as dogs are not allowed anywhere on the premises and not even outside the gates'.

That was Berks. Might be different elsewhere. But, if as a parent, I was not allowed to take my dog with me to collect my kids - I'd be a bit miffed if others were actually allowed to take dogs inside the school!

Very sad really but I suppose there might have been a reason for it?
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Lacey10
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08-06-2013, 11:15 PM

Welcome to Dogsey

Certainly is a wonderful idea and imagine it would be of great benefit to the kids.Have no idea of the legal implications, but can't imagine it would be that straight forward, especially as it would be there a few times a week. I was asked once to take my dog into my daughter's primary school, just for an hour.Purpose was to educate the kids on how to look after a dog, they asked me questions about her,got to hold her, that kind of thing. To do this the school sent a permission slip to all the parents of pupils involved, two pupils were excluded due to parents wishes.
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Julie
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09-06-2013, 07:57 AM
It's a lovely idea but not long ago the papers reported on a case where a parent even refused to send their child to a school where a guide dog was present for a blind pupil as her child was allergic to dogs, now if a guide dog was not welcome and dogs here are banned from school gates etc not much hope of a pet being allowed in I would imagine.


But lovely idea as I said.
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catrinsparkles
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09-06-2013, 08:18 AM
It's definitely worth a try and education is the best way to get around all issues really. Apart from insurance etc the other issues I think you should consider is would the puppy happy in an out door shelter when you could not be with it? Dogs are very social creatures and cockerpoos can be very noisy. You may find that you end up with a dog who barks continuously for attention when in the shelter....you could try to preempt this by filling it with lots of tasty and interesting things to do in there....but it may not work.

The other question is how old is the puppy and how old are the children? Excited children and excited puppies are a bad combination and a lot of work needs to be done with the dogs and the children to avoid issues like nipping, chasing children, barking, screaming, jumping up, mis handling etc. I love the idea of dogs in schools but, from my own experience of puppies and children it really is a full time job supervising and training them, not sure how successful you'll be with balancing this with a class of children. It's unlikely to go completely smoothly, but could work with some tweaking and training here and there.
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krisE
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09-06-2013, 09:29 AM
Hi,
I know it is done because I have found a few school websites with school pet dogs on. I have emailed them, but no information as yet.
My head (who also owns the school) is keen, but I guess a lot would rest on parent reaction.
Does anyone know any legal restrictions? E.g if I had liability insurance would that cover me for somewhere like a school if something should happen?
As I say, it would always be strictly supervised and small groups/ individual children to avoid it getting out of hand.
She is only 12 weeks at the moment so too young to start yet, but she has already stopped tugging at my own children's clothes ( which she did a lot to begin with!) and is really calming down in terms of jumping up etc, so is learning fast!
I would wait until she was at least 6 months and been through puppy training. I will also probably do the kennel club good citizenship courses with her.
I would never take her in if I had any doubt, but of course, she is a dog, so I want to know where I would stand in the very unlikely event of a bite etc. ( of course no matter what we do, all dog owners are in his position with kids in a park etc every day!)
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Lynn
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09-06-2013, 09:31 AM
My OH is in education and says its a nice idea but you have to be in charge of the children and the dog at all times.
He says to also think this from the dogs point of view it may not like it and what if the one of the children poked it in the eye the dog may react or may not but its not fair on either the dog or children.

He doubts it will be allowed.

He says it may be different if the head owns the school but says if the dog bit a child he would expect the school would be sued. Parents may well withdraw their children and she would go out of business.

Your comment about dogs and children in parks at that time you are only in charge of your dog not all the children in the park or maybe your dog and only your children.

I agree it sounds a lovely idea but it really is a huge responsibility.
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catrinsparkles
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09-06-2013, 09:44 AM
Originally Posted by krisE View Post
Hi,
I know it is done because I have found a few school websites with school pet dogs on. I have emailed them, but no information as yet.
My head (who also owns the school) is keen, but I guess a lot would rest on parent reaction.
Does anyone know any legal restrictions? E.g if I had liability insurance would that cover me for somewhere like a school if something should happen?
As I say, it would always be strictly supervised and small groups/ individual children to avoid it getting out of hand.
She is only 12 weeks at the moment so too young to start yet, but she has already stopped tugging at my own children's clothes ( which she did a lot to begin with!) and is really calming down in terms of jumping up etc, so is learning fast!
I would wait until she was at least 6 months and been through puppy training. I will also probably do the kennel club good citizenship courses with her.
I would never take her in if I had any doubt, but of course, she is a dog, so I want to know where I would stand in the very unlikely event of a bite etc. ( of course no matter what we do, all dog owners are in his position with kids in a park etc every day!)
I think the only way you can reliably answer the insurance question is by calling you pet insurers, the schools insurance and checking out a public liability one too.
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ndidi
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09-06-2013, 10:17 AM
HI I do volutneer reading in a school and was intested in taking in my retired guide dog brood bitch who is 8 years old and bomb proof. She just lies down and wouldn't bother anyone and is great even with my nephew who is only 18 months. I was told no it wouldn't be allowed partly because of the possiblity of fleas. I do de flea Ellen every month so it I is unlikely but still wasn't allowed. I was also told that there would be a problem with insurance. I would only be there for an hour and a half twice a week.

So I can't see you being able to take a puppy in. Also I would wait until she was 2 years old before taking her in if you are allowed. That way she will be better being left and will be much calmer.

It was a shame as it could have helped the kids I work with alot.

But never mind there was to much red tape so Ellen stays at home with Hovis.

Good luck thought as it sounds a nice idea I am just not sure if it is possible.

Ndidi
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catrinsparkles
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09-06-2013, 10:25 AM
Originally Posted by ndidi View Post
HI I do volutneer reading in a school and was intested in taking in my retired guide dog brood bitch who is 8 years old and bomb proof. She just lies down and wouldn't bother anyone and is great even with my nephew who is only 18 months. I was told no it wouldn't be allowed partly because of the possiblity of fleas. I do de flea Ellen every month so it I is unlikely but still wasn't allowed. I was also told that there would be a problem with insurance. I would only be there for an hour and a half twice a week.

So I can't see you being able to take a puppy in. Also I would wait until she was 2 years old before taking her in if you are allowed. That way she will be better being left and will be much calmer.

It was a shame as it could have helped the kids I work with alot.

But never mind there was to much red tape so Ellen stays at home with Hovis.

Good luck thought as it sounds a nice idea I am just not sure if it is possible.

Ndidi
It's so silly isn't it! People carry fleas too! I think, when it isn't done, that it is more personal preference getting in the way. It is done and can be done...so how come certain school ado it and not others.
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