Meet Millie, our Nursery pet dog.

Poppins has a new family member! One with four paws, a curious nose and a happy waggy tail.

Growing up with a dog holds so many benefits for children, however owning a pet is a huge responsibility and one that not all families are able to do for many reasons. Millie attends Nursery three and a half days a week, with a day and half rest at home for her own well-being. During her time at Nursery she is free to roam upstairs and has her own safe space for sleeping (when she isn’t cuddling staff on the sofa). We have made upstairs a safe space, with risk assessments in place and consent from parents, for children to visit Millie whenever they like and they are always supervised.

The children adore Millie and she has settled in beautifully! We take her for walks with the children, they can pet her and help with her care such as making sure she has water, food, toys and lots of fuss and cuddles. They are not shy at telling her where she can go to the toilet either!

The benefits of learning to look after a pet help the children to develop lifelong skills such as empathy, understanding, and respect for animals.

At Poppins we are proud advocates of supporting children’s mental health with our Mindfulness curriculum enrichments, providing children with the awareness of their emotions and feelings. The companionship of a pet offers support for children’s mental health by offering coping skills for children, alleviating loneliness and isolation, which can be part of anxiety and depression. Children find support and security in having a pet companion to always be there for them and provide them with the feeling of unconditional love. It is shown that children who interact with dogs have increased levels of oxytocin released into their brains, reducing anxiety and stress.

Did you know that children who grow up around a dog also develop a stronger immune system? Recent studies in paediatric health have concluded that children who lived with pets (but especially dogs) during their first year of life actually had a better immune system than those who did not. They believe that exposure to dogs may have positively boosted the maturation of their immune system during infancy. In addition, when they did fall ill, they needed a shorter course of antibiotics compared to the children who did not live with pets.

Another study found that children who were predisposed (at least one parent suffers from) respiratory allergies or asthma are much less likely to develop similar issues if they have a dog in the house. They found that early exposure is key. Children who had a dog after the first year of birth had no added health benefits. The health benefits also extend to children’s skin where recent studies found that dogs actually protect children who are at risk for eczema. In fact, children with dog allergies, who did not have dogs in the home, were four times more likely to develop eczema than those who did.

There are of course so many educational benefits of having a Nursery dog too and the list is endless. Children have more exposure to physical exercise by walking and playing with Millie which teaches them a sense of responsibility, improves their self-esteem and confidence as well as greater opportunities for a great run or walk outside in an open space.

Children have opportunities to extend their vocabulary and having a dog will encourage verbal communication for children of all ages. Through nurturing and helping to take care of a pet children will learn to have a trusting relationship which is important for their social-emotional development.

If you have any questions or queries related to Millie, or if you would like to come and visit her, please just get in touch with Sam on 01905 748478.

You can also find our Nursery dog risk assessment here and our policy here.