 Barked: Sun Jun 24, '12 3:13pm PST |
 | |  | | I also would not be comfortable with ANY dog in a daycare environment. Both for the safety of the dog and of the children.
I know teachers who have gone through hell just to get their service dog ok'd to be in their classroom, and that's a service dog - and the children are all sitting at desks or moving about in lines most of the day.
Daycare with a dog is risky to start, making a puppy is even worse, making it a giant breed worse still, and to top it all off, a guardian breed.
No, English Mastiffs are not as "guardy" as some of their cousins, but that doesn't make them not guard dogs. It's the difference between the Neapolitan or the Fila taking down everyone no questions asked from 9 months of age on - and you accept and manage it because that's what you signed up for - and having a window to socialize and hope it goes well, knowing you can train well and do minimal management if it doesn't. As a petsitter, I know many English Mastiffs who require out-of-home petsitting because once the owner is away, they'll take down anyone who tries to enter the house. Even people they've known since they were 12 weeks old.
Then you have the daycare environment to set that off... Exposure does not guarantee acceptance! Quite often it's the opposite. There is so much coming and going that a dog who would be fine with strangers in a quieter situation is pushed over the edge by the constant influx of strangers and their own nerves. I've known many dogs who were purchased as pups by independent shop owners, they let the pup free in the shop to socialize, and by a year old they're calling for behavioral help because the dog is going after clients. And these aren't even necessarily guardian breeds, either.
I think this woman needs to re-evaluate her situation to begin with, and if she still really believes a dog should be mingling with children in her daycare she needs to look for a medium/large adult - although as someone else said, good luck finding a reputable organization that will place a dog in this situation. |  |  | |  |
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