Frequently Asked Questions

The legal owner of the dog is Mrs O’Neill. She will bear the costs associated with owning the dog at home; the school budget will support training costs and insurance for her whilst at school.  The school’s public liability insurance covers a school dog as long as stringent measures are in place including a robust risk assessment, the parental choice of accessing the dog for their child/children, a responsible owner trained alongside the dog and appropriate pet insurance.  

Dolly is a cockapoo. She started coming into school from 16 weeks old. 

Mrs O’Neill is the legal owner of the dog and as a result, will be responsible for her training. Additional handlers in school will also be trained. School will be funding the dog’s training to be obtained via The Dog Mentor.  

As Dolly is still a puppy, she will occasionally use a puppy pad in a designated area of Mrs O’Neill’s office, but will mostly be toileted when taken out for walks out of the school grounds. 

The dog will be kept in Mrs O’Neill’s office when she is resting. To enable the dog to have more space to roam when she is not working, she will also have access to the Senior Leaders Office. There will be designated trained staff around school who will support Mrs O’Neill in caring for the school dog. During interventions, the dog will work with children (whose parents have given permission) in an intervention room or classroom. The dog may also attend meetings with staff to support further socialisation, and support staff well-being, following consultation with staff beforehand. The dog will always be on a lead when moving around the school site. 

No. The dog will be kept in offices and she will work in intervention rooms. We will ensure the school dog only has contact with children who are happy to have contact with her and where there has been no refusal of permission by parents, this will be under strict supervision.  A pupil will not be forced to be in contact with the dog at any time against their wishes.  We hope to work closely with parents of children who are fearful of dogs to alleviate their fear and to teach them how to manage this using evidence-based interventions such as graded exposure. 

The dog’s welfare will be carefully monitored. The dog will be walked regularly throughout the day and given free time outside of sessions to rest and play.  The dog will be carefully trained over a period of time and will have appropriate access to food, treats, water and toys.

Cockapoos are classed as hypoallergenic as they have low / no shedding fur. They get this trait from the mix with Poodles who have a low dander count. This makes them great choices for people who suffer from dog allergies and asthma. However, no dog is considered 100% hypoallergenic and therefore children with allergies will not need to touch the dog or be in the same room as the dog at any point which will relieve the possibility of allergic reactions. We already manage a number of allergies and this will be no different for children and adults that are allergic to dogs. Individual needs will always be met and we are happy to work with parents to put additional control measures in place for individual allergies. The dog will be regularly groomed and fur trimmed to reduce any possibility of allergens. A letter will go out to all pupils at the start of each year and to parents whose children join throughout the year to ask about allergies or where parents refuse to allow their child access to the dog. 

No, other dogs are still not allowed. The school dog will have received assessment, training and insurance to enable her to be on the school site.