Childmind Registration

Hello again, I need some more help and advice. I am due my Childming Ofsted registration any day now. Does anybody know Ofsted's thoughts are on dogs. We have one. Do we shut her out in the garden or just leave her where she would normally be.

i dont know thier view, but would suggest doing what you would do when you plan to mind the children.

i am sure some of the childminders on here will have a better idea (i run a preschool)

good luck with the reg though

[sarahnev707]

You will need to show the inspector you have thought about the dog and the children's safety around them... you can do this in a risk assessment.

It is best to be totally honest with yourself and accept that even the most gentle, docile dog might nip a child if provoked / poked with a stick etc and you can't be everywhere at once... so I would show how you intend to keep the dog well away from the children when you are working...

I know of some minders who have been told to keep dogs in separate parts of their house or in cages (one was 5' high if I remember rightly) so don't take anything for granted...

Good luck with the pre-reg! It's an information gathering exercise from both sides, so have a list of questions ready

[watgem]

Sarah is right you do need to do a risk assessment for all pets. I have 2 dogs and state in my policies that children will have supervised access only to them, that children will be shown how to speak/touch them appropriately and handwashing will take place afterwards. Keep all your vet books to show the inspector that your dog is routinely vaccinated/wormed/de-fleaed etc, our dogs use the backgarden and the front garden is for childminding only so there is no danger of contamination from dog waste. When I had my inspection last year our dog had just had puppies so they were all upstairs where I'm not registered but in previous years when I've been inspected they have been in the kitchen behind a high doggy gate from argos as the children don't have unsupervised access to the kitchen, and I explained that food bowls etc were picked up before childminding and that dogs were put out if we were going to be using the kitchen. hope that helps, I have been lucky so far all my inspectors have been ok about dogs. Most imprtantly my parents have been all for pets, as most of them are too busy/no garden etc and wanted their children to grow up with pets. Good luck I hope it goes wellx