The evidence required both from a legal and H&S perspective has been covered and provided to the relevant people.
I also included dynamic risk assessments for the schools, which certainly wasn't a requirement on my part.

We have made sure that we have done everything necessary to make sure there are no problems and everyone involved (myself, my friend/colleague, the dogs, children & staff) are covered in every way possible.

We also make it clear to the schools that there is no obligation to have the dogs in school if they'd prefer not to. Not one has said no to the dogs.

Good to hear you can provide acceptable evidence of the dog's suitability for the tasks involved.

That is why PAT have trained Temperament Assessors, in order to meet legal, H & S and insurance requirements.

Something a lot of people do not understand.

First thing I did was consider teh H&S and legal aspects fo what we were doing. Without those, it's a no-brainer!

I forgot to say, are you aware of the K9 project which works with schools and young people?

http://www.k9project.co.uk/K9_Welcome.html

THey do a lot of different things and arrange things outside the school. We don't - we go into the schools/classrooms and focus ONLY on the children remaining safe around dogs. We don't discuss ownership or animal care as for the most part, the children are too young to take it all in (primary school aged children).

Also, we put a 2 hour limit on our dogs working with us in schools. We can easily do 2 or possibly 3 sessions where the children remember most of what we're trying to get across to them and the dogs don't get too bored or worn out. On occasions where we may be in a school longer than that, or across lunchtime, we would swap the dogs over so those that work in the morning don't do it in the afternoon.

The Dogs' Trust also provide educational visits to schools but again, they do a lot more than we do. We try to keep it short and sweet for everyone's benefit and for the moment, it seems to be working.

To a degree, I don't! On the one hand I recognise the need to protect children from unnecessary harm. On the other hand I am one of the many who absolutely despairs at 'political correctness gone mad' caused in part by the 'compensayshun culture' which robs a lot of people (Not just children.) of some very enriching experiences.

Let's imagine a scenario where an experienced and trusted teacher who has well trained and socialised dogs goes to the head with an idea to bring their dogs in to do an ad-hoc safety/introductory session. Certainly, says the head. Here's form 0001 through to 9999 for you to fill in and we'll have an assessment team in next week to go through everything with you... Result - puff of dust in the head's office where the well meaning, well intentioned and common sense practicing teacher used to be and a class full of children who are still none the wiser on how to be around dogs. Unfortunately, I can't even see that my scenario would even get as far as the head's office...

OK, rant almost over. Having said all that, I started off reading this thread thinking "Good for you, what an excellent initiative!" I still think that and have massive respect for you for, Stumpywop, for wading through the lake of H&S treacle you no doubt had to endure!

Let me try to put it another way.

If you bought or rented a piece of equipment to work with you would expect it to be fit for purpose woud you not?

You would expect it to meet certain safety standards eg have a kite mark, meet BSi/EN/ISO quality standards, have a CE mark, and, if used for work, meet the PUWER regs.

These regulations/standards are there to protect people from serious injury which can occur when using sub standard equipment;

You have a car? You would expect it to be fit for purpose and have some sort of statutory check like an MOT to protect not only yourself but others.

None of this has anything to do with compensation etc. They are things which the HASAWA 1974 have deemd "law".

H & S has become devalued by jobsworths applying rules which have nothing to do with H & S (hence why the HSE used to have a "Myth of the Month" campaign) and officials who are worried about claims.

Claims and H & S are not one and the same!

As a parent, how happy would you be if your child was injured due to sub standard equipment, eg collapsing chair or desk?

If it could have been avoided by a) buying something fit for purpose and b) being subjed to regular inspection, I think you would be thought reasonable in raising an objection.

How would you feel if a dog brought in by a well meaning teacher/parent, bit a child because those responsible failed to identify if the dog met the requirements for such a task.

Would you not expect that dog to be "tested" to see if it was fit for purpose, or would you take the owner's word for it? Would you not want to maximise the safety of all concerned by ensuring the dog met the same stringent criteria as say PAT dogs by being temperament tested by a trained assessor?

I am not sure what you would find unreasonable in this course of action and why the assessment of a living thing, which is potentially capable of doing serious harm, is for some reason less important than assessing the suitability of playground equipment etc?

Just because people "mean well" or are motivated by the right reasons does not change the necessity for care or the outcome.

The intent to harm may not exist, but, the impact is the same..............

I agree that pretty much all of the above is necessary. However, I think it needs to be achieved by encouraging people to use common sense and judgement and not by blindly following regulations which is how the jobsworthies would have us do it. To me, the capability to assess risk by common sense and judgement is something that has been sidelined and is in danger of being lost because of regulatory micro management. Assessing the risks involved in a society of individuals unable to think for themselves is something I personally deem to be highly likely to lead to unnecessary injury!

Unfortunately, I can tell you that COMMON SENSE is NOT THAT COMMON!

If you see the accidents I do or read the HSE website you would be astounded at what people do.

99.99% of all accidents are preventable and avoidable.They are entirely forseeable but people carry on doing what they do because they have got away with it, but sooner or later, they pay for it.

As for blindly following regulations, this is exactly NOT what jobsworths do (after all following the speed limit does not make you a jobsworth does it)? They make their own rules up.

Regulations, rules, laws are there for a reason, it may not be immediately obvious to some, but that does not mean they are pointless!

I've used my dogs for many years as part of the communication programme for some of the students I teach - here's an article that was written about my current therapy dog



This article first appeared in Dog World 3rd Feb 2011 and is reproduced here with kind permission of it's author Eileen Geeson


Bijou - an extraordinary dog by Eileen Geeson
03 Feb 2011 08:00


It is always good to hear about the wonders that dogs achieve within society.
Yvonne Wheeler has been teaching children with special needs for more than 27 years and currently works at Meadowgate Special School in Wisbech where she has a class of children aged 13-15 years with severe and profound multiple learning difficulties.
About eight years ago one of Yvonne’s pupils, Sarah, responded only to sensory stimulus, so as part of her programme Yvonne took her old Groenendael Lily (Gron-de-Mon Folie Magique’) into class.
Lily provided the complete sensory package with warmth, texture, movement and responsiveness. Her visits were used to introduce and extend the use of a head switch, so that Sarah could use it to express that she wanted more interaction with Lily.
Yvonne says: “Lily was already quite old when I started this programme and eventually had to stop visiting as she began to decline.

Gentle nature
“Then around three years ago I imported a Groenendael bitch from France - Bijou du Clos Des Agapornis - as part of my hobby of showing, working and occasionally breeding the Groenendael variety of Belgian Shepherd Dogs. Bijou has the most wonderful laid back and gentle nature and she took Lily’s place as part of the sensory programme for some of my students.”
As the visits progressed Yvonne noticed that another student, Andrew, became fascinated with Bijou. He would sit next to her and rub her fur between his fingers. Andrew is very severely autistic so he will not give eye contact, cannot speak, will not touch or communicate in any way with adults or other students.
He was completely locked in the isolated world of severe autism spending most of his time fluttering his fingers in front of his face or flicking paper between his hands. Bijou’s fur was to him just another extension of his obsession with fluttering his hands, but Yvonne thought she could use this to help him choose to communicate.
“On one of Bijou’s visits, Andrew came over to sit with Bijou as usual,” Yvonne recalls, “but this time I called Bijou back to me. Andrew then looked at me, so I sent Bijou back to him as a reward. We repeated this for most of the morning - with Andrew asking for Bijou by looking at me. It sounds like a really small thing but that look was the first deliberate communication he had given me in the two years I had been his teacher! It was quite an emotional time.
“Eventually we extended Andrew’s communication programme which included taking him out of school. This was always a nightmare as the outside world is often a very frightening and incomprehensible place for autistic youngsters and Andrew was no exception.
“If we (or his parents) tried to take him outside, he would scream, throw himself on the floor and bang his head. It was truly pitiful to watch and so Andrew rarely left the ‘safety’ of the classroom or his home.
“But incredibly we found that he would follow Bijou and so we began taking Andrew out of the classroom more and more. We used a harness so that he could feel Bijou’s fur (which was still part of his obsession) and I would hold her lead. I remember the triumph of walking to the local shop and back for the first time – it certainly was a real breakthrough.”
Andrew and Sarah are no longer in Yvonne’s class but Bijou still goes to the school regularly to work with other students.
“She also helps deliver the Kennel Club’s ‘Safe and Sound’ scheme to our more able youngsters and once a term I do an animal assembly of which she is an integral part.

Wonderful effect
“Not all autistic youngsters respond to dogs in the same way as Andrew did (some are very afraid) but for those that do the effect can be wonderful. This has now been recognised by an organisation called Assistance Dogs - www.support-dogs.org.uk/AADogs.htm and the impact that dogs can have on the lives of those with special needs is only just beginning to be uncovered - I think we have only just scratched the surface,” Yvonne says.
Even though Yvonne is due to retire at the end of this summer term, she is hoping to continue with this work on a voluntary basis – “I’m lucky to have such an extraordinary dog!”