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| Forum Rules |
 General Rules |
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Our Objectives: Please read our Mission Statement to learn what Big Dogs Porch is all about. Big Dogs Porch was created with the vision of providing an interactive community for owners and lovers of large and giant breed dogs. We strive, here at Big Dogs Porch, to be an educational/learning forum. Bringing together members from different venues, where we all can learn and benefit from each other’s experiences and passions. We try to encompass the whole spectrum of these dogs, from seasoned dog owners to the first timer. Everyone has a voice here on Big Dogs Porch. We not only want Big Dogs Porch to be educational, but we want it to be fun and enjoyable. Your first two priorities, in life, are always your family and your work. We want Big Dogs Porch to be your 3rd place. We want you to have a place to share your stories, your pictures and to connect with other big dog owners close to you and around the world. We, as being owned by big dogs, are the only ones that truly appreciate and relate to these special creatures. Our Expectations: As with every new member that decides to join our community, we ask everyone to have a patient and open mind. You need to look around and decide if this is the community you want to be part of. We have some very strong beliefs here. We strive to provide the very best care possible for our big dogs, so we are very passionate about this and everyone needs to be aware of this. Our community is very dedicated to welfare of dogs. They will always have the interests of the dogs first. You may not appreciate some of the community responses all the time, but you need to understand where we are coming from. New Members should not be “put off” or take offense to responses to your questions, just because you do not like the answers. Our community is very willing to help each other. Take the time to learn and understand before you take offense to a response. As with everything, we do expect everyone to follow our rules. The Big Dogs Porch team wants to enjoy this forum as much as you do, so only with your cooperation that we can make a place you want it to be. We will try our best to moderate this forum to our best of our abilities, but we cannot be everywhere all the time. We just don’t get paid for this and we do it because we believe this is a special place. Since BDP is your community, we encourage all members to help assist the team in keeping Big Dogs Porch running as it should be. When you see an issue arise, we encourage all members to report the problem to the Big Dogs Porch team, using our “Post Reporting” features. That way we can be made aware of this and can quickly get involved. We do not encourage you to try to resolve this yourself, because this can escalate the issue into a confrontational debate. So that being said, it is up to everyone to follow these guidelines to make Big Dogs Porch a strong, active community. The following rules are not up for discussion and are not debatable, they will be fact. Forum Rules and Code of Conduct 1) Each member will treat others members with respect, be tactful, and be courteous, at all times. There is always a proper way to respond to someone. We encourage good discussions and debates, because this is the way we learn. We want members to respond with honest straight-forward opinions, but members need to refrain from injecting their snarky, degrading personal feelings that adds no value to a post, but causes disruption. If you cannot do this, it will be best that you do not respond to the post at all. 2) Each member will solely be held accountable for their own posts or remarks. As with the internet, posts do not contain the feelings that you can project while talking to someone face to face. So be aware that you need to ensure that you project the correct message you want to project. It will not be the responsibility of others to do this. This is solely your responsibility. Please take a few moments before you hit the post button to make sure it this is what you want to say. 3) We will have disagreements, from time to time. In many ways, we learn from this, because there is more than one way to do certain things. Having members internationally, almost guarantees that differences will arise. Just because there are differences does not mean it is wrong. Each member that posts a response that is unconstructive or is personal attacks that turns the discussion in an inappropriate fashion will solely be held responsible for their actions. We feel it takes multiple parties for this to happen and we will be forced to take actions for each and every party involved in these discussions. This will also include posts that are considered provoking in nature. This will not be tolerated. 4) Members will not post any messages or use the private messaging feature to harass, insult, belittle, or threaten another member or guest. If you cannot make your point without resorting to a personal attack then you are not welcome here. This is what we consider as Flaming. 5) You will not post any topic that disrupts the peace and harmony of this forum. Don't create meaningless threads with the sole purpose of starting a dispute among the community. This includes messages in private messages, profiles and signatures. This is what we consider as Trolling. 6) You will not double post or cross-post the same message in multiple forums. You will not mass-PM or mass-email multiple members of this site the same message. You will not post for the sake of increasing your post count. This is what we consider as Spamming. 7) You will not post any messages that are considered obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, racist, sexist, discriminatory, or otherwise violate of any local or international laws. This includes links in your signature, profile, bookmarks as well as posted images, photos and avatars. The Big Dogs Porch team will ultimately decide if something is appropriate or not. 8) You will not post any messages anywhere on this site that are primarily for the promotion or advertising of any website, forums, email address, business, MLM activity, or other entities that you have an affiliation with (No Self-Promotion) WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR. 9) You will not upload, attach or post anything that is known copyright or licensed material. 10) There is to be no selling of dogs/puppies on this site under any circumstances. Litter announcements may be made in the breeding forum provided that you also post VERIFIABLE health testing results as appropriate for that breed, as well as conformation/working titles. Backyard breeders and puppy mills are not welcome here and should not bother using our forum as a place to peddle puppies. BDP Policies Here at BDP, our first and foremost concern is for the dogs. We do not tolerate animal abuse or neglect. Should any member be convicted in a court of law of animal abuse, their membership here WILL be immediately terminated. Should BDP administration or staff be presented with hard evidence of ongoing animal abuse or neglect by any member, their membership will be suspended pending investigation and the matter will be turned over to local authorities. Backyard breeders and puppy millers are not welcome here, as BDP feels that such people are a detriment to dogs everywhere. We define BYBs and puppy millers as people who breed dogs with no regard to betterment of the breed, without doing proper health testing as recommended by the appropriate breed club, and who are not actively working or showing their dogs in the conformation ring. What will happen when these rules are violated? We implement a “three strikes” warning system. Generally we try to avoid giving strikes when a simple friendly reminder would work. However, we will issue warnings when warranted. These are not up for debate and warnings issued will not be overturned. In the event that a member receives 3 strikes, their account is automatically suspended for 3 days. After 3 days that member is given the opportunity to rejoin the community, providing they follow the rules. The Big Dogs Porch team wants to enjoy the site as much as you do and do not want to have to moderate everyone all the time. So by us doing this, we want everyone to be on the same page we are on so there is no misunderstanding of what we expect from you. Continual disregard to our forum rules can and will lead to a permanent suspension to this site. We will try our best to look at issues with an open mind. Our decisions will be based on what is best for Big Dogs Porch. The Big Dogs Porch team has the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread or post, or suspend or ban any member for any breach of the rules or for any other reason with or without warning or notice. We would like to point out that claiming unawareness of these rules will not be a valid excuse for breaking any of the stated rules. Likewise, just because someone else does something and it appears no action has been taken does not mean that the issue hasn’t been dealt with, and doesn’t mean that you can do it too. We can't view every thread or post and rely on reports to tackle the issues that arise on the site. Therefore if you're unsure of an action, Please contact the Big Dogs Porch team to check first or use some common sense and not post something potentially troublesome. Conclusion The Big Dogs Porch community is YOUR community. Only with your help, we can make this the community you can be proud to be part of. The rules are there for the protection of the community as a whole and to prevent abuse, conflict, disruption, but also it provides the guidelines we expect each member to follow within the forum. The Big Dogs Porch team has the right to change these rules at any time without notice. It will be the responsibility of every member to remain updated with the current rules and expectations. Thanks BigDogsPorch.com Staff |
| For breaking above rules you may be warned/banned appropriately! |
