My dog nipped a mindee again!!!! Aaaarrrrgh!

[donna porter]

I've had my jack Russell for 5 years (since a tiny pup) and he's always been great with the kids. But one particular mindee is really rough with the animals (and the other kids for that matter) my dog is really scared of her . It's the 3rd time he's nipped her arm and left a bruise. Mum is really good about it and even tells her off for being too rough with the dog. Doesn't make me feel any better about it tho.
This child is a pure nightmare. She is 5 years old and I thought after the 1st time she would learn.
I'm so stressed right now

[lilac_dragon]

Personally, I'd be worried that the next time, the dog may nip her face rather than an arm!
As your dog has left a bruise, have you written it up in your Accident book?

You need to be very careful, because although the Mum has been good about it so far, what will happen if there's a worse incident? I'd be concerned that the parent may say that it had happened several times before and blame you.
If this was me, I'd be tempted to give notice to the girl.

[merry]

After the first and second time did you do a risk assessment? What measures did you put in place to prevent it happening again? Since it's happened 3 times now I think you have to accept that this mindee and your dog are not a good mix and should not be allowed to be together at all. Mum might be fine about it now, but your dog could really hurt or scar her, she won't be so understanding then. To be honest, if I had a dog biting any child that would be the signal for me to separate the dog from all of the mindees, it's too big a risk in my opinion.

[donna porter]

Think DH is gonna build a pen for the dog. Seems a bit unfair on him but I don't see what choice I have.

[amyp]

I am putting my dog in a run in the garden. The mother can request that your dog is put down and it will happen straight away. The dog will no doubt enjoy the peace

[Pixie dust]

We have a lab although she is really friendly I do keep her away from the children for that very reason, sometimes children can be too much for them. I know there are a lot of people on here who have dogs and let them have free roam of the house but I choose to keep her in the utility room where she has her own space we have a stairgate acroos the door so she can see what's going on.

[mrs robbie williams]

i think id have to give notice, i couldn't have my dog in a cage all day for the sake of a boisterous mindee :panic::panic:

[Tazmin68]

You have to do something. 3 years ago i kept telling 2 older mindees not to encourage our then 1 year old boxer to go on two legs abduction put front paws on shoulder and she did so and caught mindees ear with claw tore ear. Result hospital treatment ofsted visit even social services visit about my own children s safety. This even though other mindee aged 11 confirmed they had encouraged her and she was only in same room as older children who should know better not with under 8s.
Result ofsted action she is kept separate from children at all times and complaint stays on file for 5 years.
You don't want to go through what i did. Parents can just turn like dogs
If you know what i mean

[Tazmin68]

For example parent want to leave do not give notice you chase payments abduction they contact ofsted re dangerous dog.

[Greengrass74]

I don't think giving notice to the child is the answer. I would say that the dog needs to be kept away from the children, not only for their safety but for the safety of the dog.
We have a dog but she is kept well away from the children (not in a cage) during minding hours. Even the most placid of dogs could turn and bite and we, as childminders, have a duty of care to protect the children we look after, we also love our dog to pieces and would not want to put her in a position where she feels unsafe and so may bite in defence.

you do need to do something as next time it could be the Lo's face, and make sure that you have risk assessed the situation.

[sprinkles]

I have 3 dogs and they're all kept in a separate room during minding hours unless hubby is at home. I don't even have the time to get them out when little ones are running around anyway! They would be in there if I went out to work so they're used to it anyway :D

But yes...I'd say keep dog away when this mindee is there. Wouldn't want the parents to turn if he nips somewhere else next time.

[donna porter]

We've a large garden so DH is gonna fence off part of the garden for him. Thinks its the best thing to do.

[clareelizabeth1]

I have three dogs and they are never left with mindies they are either in the kitchen or if I am with mindies in kitchen they are in the kennels. I don't even let my own son be alone with my dogs. I can just never trust children and dogs together. It can go wrong so quickly and so easily.

[sprinkles]

We've a large garden so DH is gonna fence off part of the garden for him. Thinks its the best thing to do.

Oh we've done this :) back garden for dogs, side and front for kids! Works a treat!

[caz3007]

We had an old lab, lost her early last year. But she was always in the kitchen behind a stair gate and was only allowed in to hoover up after meals...lol. I trusted her but there was always that little doubt that if a child touched a sore spot or was a little rough she may have got cross. It was to me the best thing to keep her separate for everyones sake

[hectors house]

We had an old lab, lost her early last year. But she was always in the kitchen behind a stair gate and was only allowed in to hoover up after meals...lol. I trusted her but there was always that little doubt that if a child touched a sore spot or was a little rough she may have got cross. It was to me the best thing to keep her separate for everyones sake

My dogs are in kitchen behind stair gate - one day though a mindee blew a trumpet next to the gate and then put hand through to touch a dog (although I was always telling children not to), the dog barked and snapped at his fingers - only a very slight dent, luckily skin wasn't broken - however the mother was still here and made a terrible fuss. I decided during that day that I had 3 choices - have dog put down, have dog rehomed, or clad the gate in perspex to stop child putting hand through - I obviously chose the 3rd option.

I am glad you are taking steps to separate the dog from the mindee - what about your poor dog in the winter, will it have to stay outside all day or could it come into house and be in a crate. My dogs literally stay in their baskets all day, other than a quick hoover up in dining room after meals. I'm sure if you had a dog crate your dog would choose to be in it rather than with this rough mindee.

[caz3007]

My dogs literally stay in their baskets all day, other than a quick hoover up in dining room after meals. I'm sure if you had a dog crate your dog would choose to be in it rather than with this rough mindee.

Mine did too as she was old, I agree the crate may be the best idea if you have no where else to separate the dog in the winter.

[donna porter]

I'm not sure about winter. I have a seperate front room but its a matter of relying on the kids not to let the dog out and remembering to let him out to pee!

[munch149]

I don't use my upstairs for Minding so my dog stays up there. He's not locked children do not go upstairs so don't have access to him and I keep doors shut downstairs to keep him away from children. He very rarely has access. Although to be honest my own daughter is quite rough with him so he's got used to it and has learnt to walk away

[lilac_dragon]

Like other replies on here I keep my dog in the utility room behind a gate so they can see what's happening and still be away from annoying littlies! Dog's friendly but bouncy and I wouldn't like them to knock a lo down with their enthusiasm, let alone anything else.

[QualityCare]

Good idea to fence off the garden, get a good quality kennel as well, dog could also use front room with door open and a safety gate across (children can't open it) so that dog is still a part of the family and can see and here you but is safe. He would only need to go out in the garden for a wee once or you could take him for a walk during the day with the children.

[Tazmin68]

I have the sinario that my dog is in hallway behind a gate and has use of kitchen but as all of this is at front of the house when she starts grumbling I let her through lounge into garden and she does what she needs to do and then ones straight through lounge again and goes straight to gate into hallway. She does not even look at the children anymore when she goes through.

As my garage is off the hallway she also has a crate in the garage with a double quilt in it. this is where she goes when I have strangers visit as she barks when in hallway. My kitchen is only 2x8 metres so quite small.

Parents sign a pet handling form as there is no door from lounge to hallway just a large stair gate and this works fine. After what happened I have decided that I will not have another dog as keeping her away is unfair and with kitchen and hallway at front of house and having to go through lounge to get into garden is a pain. She is now 4 so it ill be a long time before we go there I hope.

Deb

[Rachel6]

I have 3 dogs & have always had dogs as child upwards,as much as I love animals & mine are now my babies as kids are grown up,I never would or trust a dog 100% my dogs are in the kitchen behind a stair gate where they can see everyone arrive sometimes Mindies will stroke them or just say hello. Then later on in the day they might come in the lounge for 10 min if kids are doing something quite. More often than not they just take themselves up to my sons room for the day. I teach the kids they must respect all animals & we do not hurt or scare them & have even say this in front of parents. Good luck but I would just keep them apart x

[smurfette]

I have a dog, we have sectioned off part of the garden for her (she has about 40 foot lucky thing!) but actually she barks a lot down there as she wants to know what's happening! So now we have cleared some space beside the kitchen outside, we have decking, and though its a lot smaller than her garden she is happy as Larry! She has her kennel there (It's an igloo which is cooler in summer and warmer in winter) and there is a gate onto decking so she can see us if we are playing outside, and can put her front paws up on gate .. Mindees sometimes ignore her and sometimes pet her or throw her her ball if
She shoves it through the gate at them! I usually don't have her in at all during the day we may walk her though, and she comes in when they have gone home. It is partly to keep the dog hair and dirt down as I have a crawler, partly I don't need four extra legs under my feet! And partly worry about her nipping., she never has but you never know.. And she can scrape if she bats her front paws at you over the gate. I feel sorry for her cos she is happier in house but she started pooing on the floor at night time so she is out at night too and I think is quite used to it, would like another dog to keep her company!

[Helen79]

If you don't use your front room for minding then I'd keep your dog in there and fit a latch to the top of the door so mindees can't open it. Would be much easier than building a run in the garden.

[fionamadcat]

I have 2 dogs that are kept away from the kids at all times since 1 of them growled at a mindee. I am happier that way that nothing could happen, they stay in my utility room but I can open the door from there to let them into garden. My dd got nipped by someone else's dog a few weeks ago and the owners were very shocked and surprised it had happened. Very out of character for the dog apparently but they then admitted he had been quite grumpy as he has a sore back. Was pretty annoyed as they had left him tied up outside the community centre and dd just went to pat him. But just goes to show how easily these things can happen.

[Daftbat]

Hi,

I appreciate the views of everyone here and some sensible advice has been given. I am a dog owner - German Shepherd - and although he has been brought up completely surrounded by children and a busy household I still have to keep my eye on him AND the children.

This should never have been allowed to get to the second bite.

We have a duty of care to everyone and we have to be in full control of both the animals and the children in our care. The child in question needs to fully realise what she is doing - at 5 she is fully capable of understanding the consequences of her actions and the dog needs to be kept away from stressful situations too.

I use stairgates to keep children and the dog separate if necessary and watch out for any unwanted attention which a child is giving to the dog and move one or the other.

If you allow this to get to a fourth time either with this child or another one I think you will be creating a huge problem for yourself. Do a rigorous risk assessment immediately so that you can demonstrate to Ofsted and other parents exactly what you are doing to stop this problem. Giving notice to the child is not the answer unless there are other issues that can't be addressed any other way.

[ziggy]

If you don't use your front room for minding then I'd keep your dog in there and fit a latch to the top of the door so mindees can't open it. Would be much easier than building a run in the garden.

This is what i have done. Dog is in garden alot of the day but when indoors she goes in living room which i can lock.

My dog is really small (corgi/fox terrier type) but i just dont trust dogs or children.

[kellyskidz!]

I don't trust dogs around children either, harsh as it sounds, I would never allow any dog around my child or other I care for. You don't know what they're thinking, and as well trained and soft as they are the danger is constantly there, especially with bigger dogs who could do a lot of damage with one bite or nip
I actually like dogs but I think some dog owners can be guilty of forgetting that other people may not want dogs around them or their children and that some people are genuinely frightened of them
I was walking down my road not long ago with mindee in pushchair when a Rottweiler came up sniffing mindees face, dogs owner was walking behind the dog and looked annoyed when I said can you take your dog away from the baby's face please? I didn't know that dog, it should have been on a lead on the street anyway!
We've all had or seen the dog go running up to a child scaring them and the owner saying its ok it won't hurt you. That's all well and good but you don't know that 100% and they don't like it anyway! You hear stories of the gentlest softest dog ever suddenly turning and biting for no apparent reason, not worth the risk in my opinion.
If a dog had nipped/bitten a child it's your duty of care to either separate your dog from children or to give notice, which isn't very fair, but its better than the child being bitten more severely next time. If I was this child's parent I'd be fuming, no offence, that this had happened 3 times, you have to do something, no one wants to hear your dog has been put down or the child has been hurt again xx