Animals and childminding...

[LittleRabbits]

Hi, in process of registering as a childminder with a friend and originally her dogs would be at her boyfriends house permanently. However when my friend is on holiday the dogs will come here. The dogs will be in the house (other side of house to where we will be childminding) if we are outside, and when we go inside, the dogs can go outside running around the garden. Do we have to have any paperwork regarding dogs as they will never be in contact with the children or parents, don't make a noise or cause any problems?

[tulip0803]

You will need to write a risk assessment to show how you are going to keep the children safe - dogs in another area, garden pooper scooped, food inaccessible, regular worming, flea treatment, vaccinations, vet checks etc. You should still advise parents that you may have dogs on the premises, it will put some off but others like pets. Some children may be allergic to pet hair.

I have had a dog, cats, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and a hamster while minding. None have been a problem with inspectors/parents some parents will not use a house with pets others choose because of pets (even the rats). My dog was never shut away but he could go upstairs and the mindees couldn't. I also fenced a large piece off in my garden for purely the children's use as I was worried that a poo might be missed and of course a child would sit in it or the dog (labxwhippet) would knock someone over.

[LittleRabbits]

Okay thank you. We are lucky and have half side of the house just for childminding, dogs will never be in those rooms and we also have fenced area in garden for the children. We will do a risk assessment though, thank u