I am really distressed about an incident that has happened at my house

I know I'm going to get flamed for this , but I really am very upset and need calmed down. I ,obviously, childmind, and I also have a dog. The dog is kept in the kitchen when mindees are here, and occasionally they will ask if dog can be brought into living room for them to stroke,a nd I do occasionally do this, supervising (holding dogs collar, etc) all the time. Mindee1 is obsessed by animals and often disappears from living room to go and strok dog on his own, despite being asked over and over again not to, I immediately go and get him and explain again that he cannot go to kitchen door to stroke dog without me being there to supervise - not because I think dog is dangerous, but because all children in my care are looked after by me and keeping the dog seperate is a requirement of my registration.. Anyway today he managed to open to gate into kitchen and ran after the dog. He then, after being talked to by me, went away, 5 minutes later he was back, on other side of gate,and I was in the kitchen, the dog was sitting beside (I was opening bisuits) me. I saw mindee1 lunge towards the dog and heard the dog growl, then mindee said dog had bitten him. I was watching at the time, (because I know of midnees obsession with animals and how he tries to suffocate them with cuddles) and the dog growled but didn't bite. I am 100% sure of that.
There were no bite marks anywhere on his hand or arm, I had a good look. However he was crying that he'd been bitten. I definately didn't see the dog bite him. I was standing next to the dog and was looking at him as I knew mindee was there,a nd knew what mindee was like. There is a cut on his hand, on the back below his fingers, but it defiantely doesn't look like a bite mark, more like he's cut it on a knife!(IYSWIM) and now I am really upset. I have policies in place for the dog and how I am managing it, it's never alone with mindees, never in thesame room unattended etc.I've had it for 4 years and minded 2 under 5s who crawled everywhere and they never were bitten. I minded for 10 year siwth 2 dogs and no child was ever bitten nor claimed they were.
I don't know what's happened, if he got his finger stuck trying to open the gate, or he's banged it, but he is adamant that the dog bit him. I don't know what to do. I have filled in an incident form, and have explained it all to the parent who picked up. Do I need to let OFSTED know?

didn't want to read and run, not sure what to suggest really i'm sure someone with more experience will be able to, but do you have a development officer that you could ask?perhaps call him/her first thing, or if you are with ncma ask them?xxx

How did the parents take the explanation? If they were ok with it being 2 separate incidents then I'd just keep doing things as you are.

A child saying a dog bit him is a serious incident - whether the child is lying or not.

It has to be followed up properly or you could get into very serious trouble.

You need to log it in your paperwork as an incident and contact your insurance company tomorrow to let them know the situation.

You must also contact Ofsted - they might ask you to report it to the safeguarding board I am not sure it depends on the severity of the mark on the child.

The child's parents should be advised to get the child seen by a doctor because animal bites might get infected.

Yes I know you don't think it's an animal bite but you cannot take the risk of being wrong - you have to do this by the book.

You should then go back to your risk assessments because the controls you have in place to protect the children are clearly not working if a child got in to the dog without being directly supervised.

You must consider how you can protect the children in the future - whether it happened or not this is the process you must go through now.

I hope that you can resolve it without other agencies getting involved. That will depend on Ofsted and the doctor.

Nobody will flame you here we are all here to offer support.

Hugs xx

It was the dad who picked up , he seemed happy enough with it, it was all written down on an incident form, including times, and I noted down the cut, and that it had been bleeding and that I hadn't noticed the dog doing any biting. I don't know how the mum will react though.
I have had to repeatedly tell this child over and over again that he doesn't go near the dog unless I say so but he doesn't listen at all. Even the teacher and parents have commented on several occasions that he doesn't listen. hes lovely though and I love having him, but I am worried sick about this, I really am. Do I need to tell OFSTED?

I know you shouldnt have to but is there anyway the dog could be either kept upstairs or in a fenced off area of the garden whilst this mindee is here especialy as you say its a requirment of your registration although I dont understand why ofsted did this because I have a dog and i dont have a requirment to say he has to be kept seperate, anyway if this child is going to cause serious problems and stress for you over the dog prehaps its better to elimante the problem for your sake and for the dogs too.
as for informing ofsted I dont know, sorry but prehaps if you did inform ofsted and you did decide to do the above then it would go in your favor.

Poor you, that's a terrible situation.

If it was me I would do everything Sarah has suggested. I definitely think you should tell Ofsted and your insurance company. Do you have a DO you can talk to?

Hope it all works out okay for you.

Just read mushpea's post... maybe if you spend tonight working out a new RA and plan with what to do in future to stop this happening again, then you can call Ofsted tomorrow AND email them your new RA/plan so that they can see that although this has happened you have acted quickly to reflect and make changes.

I have already rewritten my pet policy and risk assesment. I have stated that between the hours of 7.45am and 8.30 (when we leave for school) and 3.30 -5.00pm the dog shall be kept in the garage. The door shall be locked and the key put in my pocket or high up out of reach. I shall also purchase a higher (think door high) gate to put ont he door into the kitchen. This then prevents dog getting near mindees, Mindees getting near dog, prevents mindees from being able to open gate into kitchen,also prevents them from opening door into garage.

OFSTED didn't actuall tell me to keep dog out of the way whne minding, I just do it, it, and previous dogs we've had, have always been shut in the kitchen with a stairgate over the door.

The dog will howl like mad if it's shut in but I don't see any other option

hon, I agree with exactly what Sarah has said. Also agree with buzzy bee, revise your risk assessment, at least in your head, so you can inform ofsted of how you will change things in future to manage the risk.

If mindee does behave like this and won't respond just to your requests then either better safety gates need to be in place or the dog will need to be kept upstairs/outside or in a dog crate if he's not too huge?? I know this is not ideal but especially if the child does launch himself at the dog the dog is going to get annoyed and it might be a proper bite next time.

sending a hug

Irrelevant fact - but the mum has mentioned to me before now that she think mindee is autistic, or at least on the spectrum.

One of the main reasons for her thinking this is his inability to listen and process requests such as not going near dog unless adult nearby. Also when you talke to him he doesn't look at you, he looks all over the place but not at you.

I'm just trying to explain why I think he doesn't listen.

Anyway have been re-writing RA and policy and have stressed myself into a headache.

Thank you all for being so helpful and not giving me a flaming. I sometimes go onto a well known parenting forum and sometimes childminders get right flamings when they post something - usually from teh parents though

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Originally Posted by QueenoftheSouth

Irrelevant fact - but the mum has mentioned to me before now that she think mindee is autistic, or at least on the spectrum.

One of the main reasons for her thinking this is his inability to listen and process requests such as not going near dog unless adult nearby. Also when you talke to him he doesn't look at you, he looks all over the place but not at you.

I'm just trying to explain why I think he doesn't listen.

Anyway have been re-writing RA and policy and have stressed myself into a headache.

Thank you all for being so helpful and not giving me a flaming. I sometimes go onto a well known parenting forum and sometimes childminders get right flamings when they post something - usually from teh parents though

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It isn't irrellevant at all and is something you should take into account when doing your risk assessments. As well as doing a RA for the dog (which it sounds like you have already done), I would do a risk assessment for the child. List what the risks are - that he doesn't listen to instructions, that he loves animals & makes attempts to get to them etc etc. Then think about what you can do to minimise the risks. It doesn't mean you'll be able to prevent every accident, but it does show that a general risk assessment might not cover this particular child and that you are specifically taking him in to account when considering possible risks.

Hi,
U can get a tall baby gate from argos and the children cant reach the handle I bought one for my dogs - i have a dalmation and she cant get over it:)

sarah xx

I have a dog, but he is cage trained. He is amazing, goes in when the mindees come and sleeps after a long walk in the morning, then when I am out and about he has the free run of the house. He also goes out in the garden. I do have a stair gate to the utility room as well where the cage is, although he is in the cage. He is a lovely dog and brought up since a puppy with my three children, but not for one moment do the mindees have access to him. It is just not worth the risk of anything happening as wonderful as a dog may be.

Could a cage be an option, they come in all sizes. Although having the room is a factor and also if he is not used to it he is not going to like it either.

I do hope the situation is going to get resolved.

If your dog is left in the kitchen, then the children shouldn't go in there you have to get a better gate, to be fare to your dog, I no some childminders use all there house for childminding, I use one room, and i have a gate up, so no children can get out, thats the way i work, i would be devastated if it happend to me, Ofsted were happy with it that way, better safe than sorry, plus i wont lock my animals away, or put outside its there home, but i do feel for you and i hope it dosnt go any further for you, good luck, :thumbsup:

Hiya, hope you are feeling a bit calmer this morning. You do need to ring Ofsted and your insurance company first thing today, as Sarah said, but it's great that you have revised your RA already as they will want to see this.

One suggestion I wanted to add - if rather than locking your dog in the garage you do get the tall stairgate as Sarahlou suggested, then use cable ties to fix a piece of plywood on the back - or even just thick card - so that the child cannot even see the dog through the gate, and also cannot stick his arms or fingers through.

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Originally Posted by Tups

If your dog is left in the kitchen, then the children shouldn't go in there you have to get a better gate, to be fare to your dog, I no some childminders use all there house for childminding, I use one room, and i have a gate up, so no children can get out, thats the way i work, i would be devastated if it happend to me, Ofsted were happy with it that way, better safe than sorry, plus i wont lock my animals away, or put outside its there home, but i do feel for you and i hope it dosnt go any further for you, good luck, :thumbsup:

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Firstly I want to say how much I sympathise with how completely scared you must be feeling at the moment.
It sounds like you are doing all the right things and taking the mindees safety seriously so please don't panic. I do have to say though that I don't think it fair on your dog to be shut away in the garage getting stressed and confused. If I were you I would get one of the dog gates for your kitchen instead. You are still keeping mindees safe but your dog is also happy IYSWIM. I also think I would be getting very very strict with this mindee who ignores your request for not going in the kitchen without your permission. I have a gate on my kitchen door and my dog spends his day in there going in and out of the garden. He goes in his crate when the children are in the kitchen eating. My mindees know that if the gate is shut they MUST NOT go into the kitchen. Not just because of the dog but because I might have dinner cooking or something and I don't want any accidents happening. Even the older mindees aged 6 / 7 never open the gate if it is closed. I'm very strict on this.
Good luck with it all
xxxxxx