Help! What would you do? LONG...

Well, if the question is what would *I* do... I don't think I could give up my dogs, and I'd probably go to work for another daycare and take granddaughter there. Possibly with an eye toward trying to get a daycare space that is not in my home (a rental) and leave the dogs at home.
 
But if you've already made up your mind, best of luck and I hope everything works out for you.

removing  threads due to a pm I received.

What do you have in the dogs' defense?  Do they have obedience training or even possibly a CGC? 

dogs are very well trained.  all have obidence training and are very social....

Can't you find a compromise situation that would keep the dogs away from the kids?  You could crate the dogs; keep them in a back room; keep them baby-gated away from the kids; keep them confined to a fenced area or dog run outside where the kids don't have access to them; etc.  I don't know much about your set-up but there are probably plenty of ways to separate the dogs from the kids.  Then you could tell prospective parents that you have a system in place where your dogs are kept away from their kids. 

Or, you could send the dogs off site during the times when the kids are there.  They could go to doggie day care.  Or since your sister and neighbor are willing to adopt the dogs, maybe they would be willing to watch the dogs for you during the times when you have day care kids over. 
 
I just think you can find a way to keep the dogs and still do day care.  I'd certainly want to try these types of options before giving away my dog. 

Re-homing my dogs wouldn't be an option for me either.  If your dogs are really well-behaved and are exercised before the children arrive and have a room or outdoor kennel to themselves I don't see why parents would have a problem.  The big dogs wouldn't be around anyway but also, you'd think they'd want their children to be socialized with dogs so they aren't scared of them and know how to act around them.  It would be an excellent learning experience.
I could understand if the arents had allergy concerns but the same would apply with your smaller dogs so that can't be the main reason. 
I am sorry that you and your family have suffered a terrible loss.  But I don't really understand - if you started daycare so your granddaughter wouldn't be raised in daycare, I assume this means that you didn't always do this?? Why can't your Granddaughter go to daycare for half the day, while you work elsewhere and then watch her the other half of the day?  I am not sure how many clients you have now but I do believe that children need to experience being on their own/away from family and learn to interact with other people/children.  My Mum did a home daycare type thing so I wasn't exposed to being without my "security blanket" (aka my Mum) until school.  It made me a very shy child and the transition to being away (alone!) that much more difficult. 
I personally wouldn't want to be forced into re-homing my dogs just because they are big and parents find them intimidating.  I know this must be a really tough decision! I hope you can figure it out.

removing  threads about my deceased granddaughter due to a pm I received.

removing  threads about my deceased granddaughter due to a pm I received.

Darla, I think those of us who are disagreeing with your decision are doing so pretty diplomatically & gently... the way you phrased the thread title was to ask us what we would do in this situation. Being dishonest to protect someone's feelings is just not something I can do in good conscience. But certainly I wish you all the best. I don't think it's a bad idea to air your thoughts here... even if in the end you decide not to go with any of these ideas, at least they are food for thought.

even giving up the dogs does not guarantee you business in your daycare. People simply might be giving you that line as an excuse.
I live in a small town and it's hard being new in town and expect people to trust you with their children.
I once knew a woman who bought a house, redid a huge portion of it for her daycare business and could not get one kid...she banked on the daycare business. She lost the house.
People are generally as untrusting in small towns to newcomers as large cities - maybe more so. We watch/listen to the news and don't want to live the stories we hear so we distrust.
I would hate to see you have to give up your dogs and not have it matter....try to work something out. Maybe take older kids

ORIGINAL: jones

Darla, I think those of us who are disagreeing with your decision are doing so pretty diplomatically & gently... the way you phrased the thread title was to ask us what we would do in this situation. Being dishonest to protect someone's feelings is just not something I can do in good conscience. But certainly I wish you all the best. I don't think it's a bad idea to air your thoughts here... even if in the end you decide not to go with any of these ideas, at least they are food for thought.

 
i agree... no one has been awful... i don't need to get beat up...i have been doing enough of that myself.  this is something i have known about for sometime.... i just kept praying it would not be a decision i would have to make....   sometimes i am not the best at wording things.  i am not upset over anything anyone has said in any of the replies...
 
thanks everyone....

  Although a newbie here, I  thought I would share my feelings on this post. I understand that you have been placed in a difficult situation here, and no one can make the ultimate decision except for yourself. You seem like a truly dedicated woman to your family, which is something commendable. For some it may seem silly, but I view my dogs as much a part of my family as anyone else. I completely understand that you have a familial obligation to your granddaughter, and that you are looking out for her best interest. However, at the same time, did you not make a commitment to your dogs when you first brought them into your home and your family? There has got to be some compromise here. I liked the others' suggestions on keeping your dogs seperate from the children while the daycare is in session. Surely that's not impossible. Just something to think about further. In no way am I trying to beat you up or attack you for your feelings and posts. I just think that the best interest for your dogs should be kept at heart as well. I hope you are able to find a successful solution to your problem.

OK, so your sister isn't a good option and neither is doggie day care.  But I still don't understand why you can't just keep the dogs and kids apart from one another.  Have you tried crating the dogs during day care hours?  Confining them to a back room or by using baby gates?  Putting them outside?  Getting a dog run for them?  Have these options proved unsatisfactory?  Why? 
 
It sounds like you are discouraged by the situation, but it doesn't have to be that way. If you give us some more details about what you have tried in terms of confining the dogs away from the kids, we might be able to help you come up with a good system for how this could work.