# Pet assessment different experiences wanted



## Jacks girl (Aug 7, 2011)

Hey all we have two wee dogs. I have heard different stories about pets including a SW interviewing a cat and people on here having to pay for a pet behaviourist to assess their doggies. 

Would love to hear different people's experiences of pet assessment lol xx


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## Flash123 (Jan 29, 2006)

We have 2 very strange cats and one very old Irish red setter, all of whom our sw met on numerous occasions. None were assessed (would have loved to see what conclusions were reached following an assessment!) and all were mentioned in our par. Didn't cause any probs at all. Good luck


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## Jacks girl (Aug 7, 2011)

Hi Flash thanks for your reply. Our references have been sought and medicals so trying to pre-empt our next steps xx


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## EveyBee (Mar 17, 2009)

Hi

Just wanted to say we have a rescue dog and he was accessed.

We went into the garden and showed our sw that he would do a sit/stay/come etc and she then saw how he was around our bc.  A vets ref helped but our sw just petted him and just observed.  We kept saying we would never leave them alone together as we don't with our bc now(trust the dog more than bc!!!)

The only thing we saw on the pet form was the question-'if there is conflict would you... put the dog down, rehome the dog or rehome the new child'  we wanted our sw to clarify what conflict meant.  As in if the child didn't like dogs- we would slowly introduce them and be aware of it, as we wouldn't do any of the above in this case.  Sw said what if he bit the child we said in that case we would have the dog put down/rehomed but we also questioned why this would have happened if they weren't left alone.

Hope this helps.  Don't stress too much-easier said than done I know but you know your dogs better than anyone.  They are part of your family.


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## lynsbee (Jun 21, 2013)

We have a 7 or 8 tear old rescue dog. 
All we had to do was fill out a form saying if there were any areas of the house which only the dog was allowedd in, what parts of the house he was allowed in, where he was fed, if he had been round children, if he had ever bitten. It was mainly a yes or no tick cheat and space for the odd comment. He wasn't seen as a problem on the home assessment visits just wanted our SW attention all the time and she wanted to take him home. He was mentioned in our PAR but just as being included into our family. I also have a rabbit which we told the SW and again he was just mentioned in the PAR as part of our family. She never even looked at the rabbit.


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## Jacks girl (Aug 7, 2011)

Thanks ladies for your replies - it shows how much it can vary I am hoping its like your experiences as medicals cost enough without adding a dog assessment with an outside agency to the list of costs for assessment haha. Thanks again really appreciate your advice, experiences and pearls of wisdom/reassurance.


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## Starmaker73 (Jun 28, 2013)

I have one bouncy 22 month old Labrador and the only concern my SW had with him was his jumping.  I enlisted the help of a professional dog trainer to come and do one to one sessions with him as I felt this would have quicker results than taking him to a class.  I will add that my SW didn't ask for this, I did it for my piece of mind.  As far as the assessment, I had the same form as lynsbee I think.  Just a ticky box page and that was it.


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## MummyAuntieKatie (Oct 18, 2012)

Be prepared for your SW to ask you to confirm that, should the situation with the dogs and child become untenable you will rehome the dogs.      I told our SW that if that was what she wanted to write then she should.  However, I have always stressed that anyone joining our family does so on the understanding that it is for life, be that dog, cat or child (we now have 1 cat, 3 dogs and 1 child) and I would do everything possible to ensure the relationship would work.  I tried to make it a positive, to show the strength of our commitment to make things work with any child.  

We had to complete a form for the dogs and cat, asked questions about 'pack leader' etc which are outdated theories on dog behaviour.  We also have lots of child gates up and the dogs get to be safe away from BB most of the time as he's just too full on for them.  

My biggest fear was that he would be scared of the dogs, but no such thing!  He wants to squeeze them, pull them, and he has no idea of the danger the pose.  This will come in time, he's only 2 and a half.  

Good luck!! I have to say, our dogs seemed to know what was required of them as they were always SO well behaved when we had SW visits! xxx


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## AoC (Oct 28, 2008)

We had to fill out a questionnaire for each of our three cats.  For my own peace of mind, I also did a joke one as if our 'head cat' had actually completed it herself...

I thought the questions were dog-orientated and irrelevant, and a little bit negative, so I also wrote a short piece/letter about all the positives I felt having cats would bring to placing a child with us, from explaining about belonging, to claiming, attachment, teaching gentleness, sharing, explaining that "when Chrissie came to live with us, she was very scared because it was all new, but now...." etc etc.  SW seemed to really like it.

Good luck, and don't worry!


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## Smudgey (Mar 13, 2012)

We have two cats , 6 rabbits and 3 ponies and apart from fill a form in that was it really , the cats are mentioned in the PAR but that they were quiet and stayed upstairs sleeping when we were being assessed . 
We also got asked the will you rehome your pets question , our reply was that the rabbits and ponies live outside so no issues and the cats I have had for 18 years this time and they are my surrogate children and they will NOT be re homed . We said we would make provisions for the cats ( ie own room etc ) if any issues happened lol , they seemed to accept this fine


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## Starmaker73 (Jun 28, 2013)

Hi Smudgey, can I ask if you were asked this at Panel or just by your SW during HS?  My SW has never mentioned this and I want to be prepared with an answer if I'm ever asked it.


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## Smudgey (Mar 13, 2012)

We wer asked by SW , at which point I burst into tears lol ! We wre asked about it at panel too , we explained that the rabbits and horses lived outside so no need for any contact with LO if need be , and said we could sort the cats by giving them their own space in the house ie their own room if necessary . They sake what would we do if LO was scared / allergic to the animals , I handy thought of the scared question ! But we still passed no probs x xx


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## Smudgey (Mar 13, 2012)

Just retread that ! My post doesn't make sense , stupid iPad keeps altering everything lol ,


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## Starmaker73 (Jun 28, 2013)

Thanks for that, and don't worry I understood the first message.   My SW has never mentioned this at all and I don't think she will now as I have finished my HS, but I would be flustered if I get asked this at Panel so I might ask the SWs advice just incase.


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## Smudgey (Mar 13, 2012)

We were expecting it at panel , the ' why do you have a preference to a little girl ' question was the one I wasn't ready for lol !!!


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## Starmaker73 (Jun 28, 2013)

Yikes!! Ok well I will prepare my myself for the pet question. As for the gender question, I am open to both so that's ok. Bet you had to just wing it. Haha


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## MummyAuntieKatie (Oct 18, 2012)

We had the 'what would you do' question at Panel, I said that 'whilst my dogs were part of my family and I adored them that I wasn't stupid and I know they would adjust to a new home if it became absolutely necessary'.  

Whilst I would never reject my child, ever, I also didn't really mean I would reject my dogs, to my mind there is always a way to cope and I would explore every possible avenue before rehoming my dogs, they are also my family, I didn't get them on a whim and I promised to give them a good life, for all of their life, not to trade them in for a birth baby or an adopted child.  When I make a commitment I take is seriously.


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## Starmaker73 (Jun 28, 2013)

MummyAuntieKatie the second half of that post is EXACTLY how I feel. Thank you for saying that. I liked your answer to Panel, and that seemed to be enough for them?


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## AoC (Oct 28, 2008)

We were TERRIFIED that Bug would be allergic to our cats.  It was one of our matching criteria that our child shouldn't have a family history of allergies.  They assured us he didn't, that he had a dog in placement, and when we took him home he was fine.  Then months later when we met a member of birth family, they told us all the family have allergies!!!  Argh!  Can't believe we've been this lucky...


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## Starmaker73 (Jun 28, 2013)

Wow, what a lucky escape AoC.  It must have been a huge relief that your LO wasn't allergic to your cat.  My SW hasn't mentioned anything about talking my dog into consideration when matching, but I think I will mention to her that I'd like her to pay special attention to LOs having no allergies or fear of dogs.  At least that way I will hopefully have taken some precautions.


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## MummyAuntieKatie (Oct 18, 2012)

Panel didn't push the dog question, they seemed to accept that I was sincere in saying that we would rehome them and put BB first.  What they didn't need to know was that I would do everything in my power to ensure that was never necessary.

BB had never had any contact with dogs, except FC's daughter's dog that came and went occasionally but he never took any notice.  During intros we took him to a large local park and there were lots of dogs, luckily he wasn't bothered by them at all.  He was also unlikely to be allergic as he is generally very robust with none of the usual markers, asthma, eczema etc. We took a bit of a chance and FC was supposed to put a 'doggy' blanket on him to check for any reaction, however it transpired that the blanket she was given by someone from SS who had a dog was so rank she just told then she'd done it but never did!  I can kind of understand why but it could have put us in an awkward positing.


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## Starmaker73 (Jun 28, 2013)

Thanks for that.  I never even thought of a doggy blanket test, that would be really useful (maybe not with a rank one though).  These are definitely all things I will bear in mind when my time comes.  Thanks so much everyone for replying.


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## MummyPea (Jun 11, 2012)

We've just been informed by out SW that Little Pea's FF wants pet assessments for our cats?! How do you assess an animal that sleeps 90% of the day?


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## Starmaker73 (Jun 28, 2013)

Is this a separate assessment other then the general ticky box one that SWs make you do anyway?  How strange, wonder what else they will ask.  Good luck with it.


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## MummyPea (Jun 11, 2012)

Our LA doesn't get you to do an assessment for cats normally, other than checking that they have good care, vets etc. She met them both, especially my little boy cat who fell in love with SW..... But Little Pea's LA do full assessments.


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