Just for Fun: Those Of You With Pets In Your Daycare Home...

[KBCsMommy]

What type of pets do you have?
I have a gorgeous English Mastiff 175 lbs and a little black kitty cat.

What do you do with your pets during daycare hours?
Kitty cat has the run of the house he can go wherever he wants to. He comes into the daycare room a lot and rubs on the kids but I do have a "no petting the kitty" rule. His litter box is in our back hallway away from the daycare area. Mastiff is on the other side of the gates in the house. Daycare is gated in a separate room. He can go up and down the hallways, kitchen and living room. But is not allowed in the daycare room even when there are no kids present. He sits by the backdoor when he wants outside and I let him out same when he wants in. When we go to play outside, he waits on his bed for all of the kids to go by when we are outside he can go back to doing whatever. Kids are not allowed to pet him unless a parent is present.

If so are there any rules you have that the DCK must follow ("no petting pets")? No petting the kitty. No petting the doggy. I don't ever let anyone pet the kitty because he is crazy! I let the kids pet the dog when parents are there because parents always go say hi to him. He's like our daycare mascot and kind of like living with our very own mini horse ::

Have you had any complaints by DCF about you having pets?
I had one complaint by a parent before I was licensed, not to me, but the dck 6 told me he wasn't allowed to play or be around our dog because he was a pit bull. My dog is not a pit bull I have AKC papers to prove it. Parents knew before enrolling the kids what the rules were about the dog and that we had a dog and what kind he was. Needless to say they didn't last long.

Have you ever had parents not want to enroll in your program because you have pets? Not that I know of. But I always tell people I have animals and they live in the house and are in the house during daycare hours.

If you have any DCK with allergies are there any cleaning strategies you have or do you just tell potential parents it would not be a good fit because of allergies?
I haven't had this issue with the kids. One of my dcm is allergic to cats and she limits her time in the house to about 10 minutes.

[SilverSabre25]

1. What type of pets do you have? Cats. 3 or 4 (one is insane and hasn't been seen in about a week)
2. What do you do with your pets during daycare hours? They are free to roam the house or go outside. Whatever floats their fuzzy boats.
   
   If so are there any rules you have that the DCK must follow ("no petting pets")? no rules, but I strongly discourage petting the enormous black and white cat who tends to nip without warning.
3. Have you had any complaints by DCF about you having pets? no, not complaints, but one interviewing family told me they don't like cats around their child and what was I going to do about that? Um...bye...find other care...
4. Have you ever had parents not want to enroll in your program because you have pets? yes, sometimes because of allergies (very reasonable) and sometimes because they're nuts
5. If you have any DCK with allergies are there any cleaning strategies you have or do you just tell potential parents it would not be a good fit because of allergies? not a good fit.

answered in bold

actually there are a couple rules...no chasing the cats, no picking up the cats, and if you pet the fat one and get nipped it's your problem--he's grumpy. The parents all know that these are my rules and that the fat cat nips when provoked.

[Brooksie]

[*]What type of pets do you have? We have 4 fish, one dog and a snake (yes a snake) [*]What do you do with your pets during daycare hours? The snake is in my office and his cage is required to be locked. Which is fine with me. No kids ever go up there any way.
Do you put the in a designated 'off-limits to DCK' area/room?
Or do you let them normally walk around the house as normal (if cats/dogs)?The fish are part of our responsibilities for the day and the dog hangs out with all the kids. He is very chill and is most content in the midst of all the play. He just sleeps on the area rugs in between the kids. He lets them dress him up and climb on him and doesn't care if his ears or tails get pulled (which I still try to discourage for his sake )

If they are cages (i.e. hamsters) do you let daycare kids to hold or pet them? The snake is not allowed out during dc hours. Reptiles can carry too many diseases even though his cage is spotless and he is harmless (except to his dinner of course)
If so are there any rules you have that the DCK must follow ("no petting pets")? We try to do gentle touching with the dog but other than that he's really good with the kids and doesn't care[*]Have you had any complaints by DCF about you having pets? Every one loves my dog, even though he's big and loud and barks at all the parents, after they are here a minute they see how great and patient he is with all the kids. [*]Have you ever had parents not want to enroll in your program because you have pets? I had one mom that was nervous about my dog but it was no sweat off my back. I gave her his references and his back story and if after that, she didn't want to enroll because of him then that's not someone I would want to work with any way. [*]If you have any DCK with allergies are there any cleaning strategies you have or do you just tell potential parents it would not be a good fit because of allergies? I always ask if there are pet allergies. If there are I would discourage from them enrolling. I would consider still trying the 3 week trial period if they insisted, but I wouldn't imagine it working out. My dog is with the kids all day long and I wouldn't separate him because of one kid. It would break his heart. [/LIST]

[Starburst]

What type of pets do you have? Cats. 3 or 4 (one is insane and hasn't been seen in about a week)

I have one cat like that (in fact she is running around the house as I speak). But she is also the only one not fixed, so maybe that will change it a bit. That's also mainly why she is an indoor only cat.

But I notice she is not as rough with kids as she is with adults. She has never hurt my cousin's 4 year old son, who is very rough with her. In fact, she is so afraid of him now that the minute their car drives up to the house, she runs up to my room and hides under my bed and wont come out until he has been gone for at least 10 minutes.

[SilverSabre25]

I have one cat like that (in fact she is running around the house as I speak). But she is also the only one not fixed, so maybe that will change it a bit.

But I notice she is not as rough with kids as she is with adults. She has never hurt my cousin's 4 year old son, who is very rough with her. In fact, she is so afraid of him now that the minute their car drives up to the house, she runs up to my room and hides under my bed and wont come out until he has been gone for at least 10 minutes.

This insane one is like, anorexic or something. Litereally! She goes outside, doesn't come home, and then reappears a few days or a week later, thin as a rail (so clearly, not eating), mewling on the other side of the fence like she can't jump over it or has forgotten how or something, or occasionally at the back door but runs away when you try to catch her or get her inside...then she sticks around, fattens up a bit, and disappears again! She's seriously insane. And it's not genetic because various members of my family also have her mother, older half sister, and all 5 litter mates. None of THEM are insane!

for the most part i try to keep her inside, but she will get out sometimes when one particular dcm is here letting the door hang wide open while she fails to control her offspring.