Rules

As a participant on this forum, it is your responsibility to know and follow our rules. Please read this message in its entirety.

Board Rules

1. You’re responsible for what you say.
As outlined in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Sheltie Nation, Sheltie Forums and its affiliates, as well as XenForo Ltd., the developers of XenForo software, are not legally responsible for statements made in the forums.

This is a public forum viewed by a wide spectrum of people, so please be mindful of what you say and who might be reading it—details of personal disputes are likely better handled privately. While posters are legally responsible for their statements, the moderators do their best to maintain an overall productive and enjoyable atmosphere in the forums, though policing each post is impossible.

Outright inflammatory, vulgar, harassing, malicious, illegal content or otherwise inappropriate statements and criminal charges unsubstantiated by a reputable news source or legal documentation will not be tolerated and will be dealt with at the discretion of the moderators. This includes messages within the Sheltie Nation Forums private messaging system (Conversations). Note that the forum rules apply to the forum Conversation system as well. Reported conversations to the moderators will be dealt with in the same manner as thread posts.

Your posts can be removed/locked with/without warning, at any time.

By participating in this forum, you agree that any posts or threads you contribute are permanent once posted.

Suicide Threats: We take the safety of our members seriously. Sheltienation.com and Sheltieforums.com are not equipped to provide mental health counseling or services. The staff of Sheltienation.com and Sheltieforums.com will remove any post or close any thread containing a threat of suicide.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call 911 or go to your nearest hospital emergency room; if you are thinking about harming yourself and need to talk, please call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.

For liability reasons, Sheltie Nation discourages personal contact with members posting suicide threats. If you see a suicide threat posted, please do not respond to it or post any topics related to it. Instead, report it to the forum staff immediately.

2. Read the FAQ and Help sections of the forums.
Nothing is more annoying than answering the same question over and over from new users. For example, do not post a thread asking how to post pictures or ask why your posts do not appear right away, as the answer is already been asked and answered in the FAQ area. If you have searched the FAQ and help forums and cannot find the answer, by all means post your question.

3. Conversations must be dog-related.
The forums are a wonderful source of information and support for members of the dog community. While it’s understandably tempting to share information or search for input on other topics upon which members might have a similar level of knowledge, we must maintain the focus on dogs.

Premium Members do have access to a private chit-chat forum that covers non-dog related topics.

4. Keep conversations productive, on topic and civil.
Discussion and disagreement are inevitable; trolling, personal attacks, trying to convert non-believers, diatribes and sniping comments are unproductive and unacceptable. Whether a subject is light-hearted or serious, keep posts focused on the current topic and of general interest to other participants of that thread. Utilize the private message feature (i.e., Conversations) or personal email where appropriate to address side topics or personal issues not related to the topic at large.

A. Infraction System
Member banning is a result of the accumulation of infraction points. Depending on the severity of the infraction, a different course of action may be taken, but the usual practice will be as follows:

1st rule break: A warning message will be sent and no further action taken.(For a more serious offense, an infraction will be issued. This is a mark against your name letting us know you have broken a rule.) This is a very good time to re-read the forum rules you agreed to at registration.

2nd rule break: Infraction.

3rd rule break: On your 3rd infraction an automatic temporary ban will be implemented, the length of which will depend on the severity of the incident. (A minimum of 7 days.)

4th rule break: After this it will be assumed you have not learned your lesson or you are specifically trying to make trouble. This is where the automatic permanent ban comes into effect. This means you will never be able to login or post the forum again.

If a user violates our rules, showing a disregard for our staff and community, they run the risk of losing their account. The infraction process will remain private. Publicizing an infraction to garner sympathy will not be permitted. We reserve the right to deactivate any account and to edit or remove any content without warning if these rules are violated. These guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice.

B. Goodbye Announcements
If you have decided you want to leave a really informative site with lots of wonderful, well behaved members because someone pissed you off; that is your short-sighted right. We recommend that if you have a problem with a particular member(s), work it out or block them. However, publicly whining about leaving this forum in an attempt to gain sympathy or attention is ridiculous. Moderators will delete snarky buh-bye posts. They serve ZERO purpose.

5. No advertising on the discussion forums.
Sheltie Forums is supposed to be informational and conversational - and should not involve promotion in any shape or form. Posts in the discussion forums directly or indirectly promoting or advertising kennels, dogs, jobs, websites for profit items or services for sale or wanted will be removed at the discretion of the moderators. Direct references, links or discussion to pregnancy or litter announcements and puppies you have available (or someone you know has available) is also not permitted. Please keep breeder specifics to the private messaging system only. However, unsolicited promotion of kennels or dogs for sale within the use of the private messaging feature is not permitted.

If you are looking to purchase a puppy, you need to post a want ad.

Members may not solicit information or feedback about specific breeders within the public forum.

Links to websites are not permitted within user signature lines.

Breeders: Direct references, links or discussion to puppies you have available is not permitted.

Paid advertising is available in the classified forums and through the purchase of banner ads. The tightly monitored “Giveaways” forum permits free listings of genuinely free dogs and items available or wanted (on a limited basis). Items offered for trade are not allowed. For additional information, please see the Advertising Policy Specifics listed below the rules.

6. Online Contests
Sheltie Forums has elected to not allow posts to self promote in online contests. The purpose of the site is for conversation and information sharing about the breed we all love. Allowing one person to post requests for votes could exclude other members from the same contest. You may privately email friends using the Conversation system, but you may not contact members outside of your profile listed friends. That is considered spamming.

7. Do not post copyrighted photographs unless you have purchased that photo.

8. Respect and help the moderators.
As members are often passionate about their beliefs, intentions can easily be misinterpreted in this type of environment. Please try to explore or resolve the inevitable disagreements that arise in the course of threads calmly and rationally.

If you see a post that you feel violates the rules of the board, please click the “alert” button (exclamation point inside of a red triangle) on the upper right side of the post, which will alert ONLY the moderators and administrators to the post in question. They will then take whatever action is deemed appropriate for the situation. Do not air grievances regarding other posters or the moderators in the discussion forums.

Be advised that the “Ignore” function in your User Control Panel can be an effective tool to avoid reading posts by and being contacted by members whose commentary you’d prefer to skip.

Understand that the moderators exist to maintain a generally informative and enjoyable forum for the exchange of ideas, information and opinions on the dog world. The moderators’ decisions are final and while you may not always agree with them, respect that such actions are done in the best interest of the board, based upon a number of factors, not always readily apparent. If you question the handling of a situation, contact a moderator privately and respectfully, in order to discuss it.

9. We have the right to reproduce statements made in the forums.
Sheltie Nation and Sheltie Forums may copy, quote, link to or otherwise reproduce posts, or portions of posts, in print or online for advertising or editorial purposes, if attributed to their original authors.

10. We reserve the right to enforce and amend the rules.
The moderators may delete, edit, move or close any post or thread at any time, and may suspend or revoke a user’s membership privileges at any time to maintain adherence to the rules and the general spirit of the forum. These rules may be amended at any time to address the current needs of the board.

Please see our full Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for more information.

Thanks for being a part of the Sheltie forums!

Advertising Policy Specifics

When in doubt of whether something you want to post constitutes advertising, please contact a moderator privately in advance for further clarification. Refer to the following points for general guidelines:

Dogs / Puppies – Only general discussion about the buying, leasing, selling and pricing of dogs is permitted. If the post contains the type of specific information typically found in a sales or wanted ad, and it’s related to a dog or service you or an associate are looking to buy or sell, it doesn’t belong in the discussion forums. If you are looking to purchase a puppy, you need to post a want ad.

Breeders - Breeder self-promotion is not permitted. Posts and signature lines may NOT include links to your website. Direct references, links or discussion to pregnancy, litter announcements or puppies you have available is also not permitted anywhere. This includes discussions about puppies that are already sold before posting. The only place these discussions may occur is in the Breeder's Roundtable forum.

Stud dogs – Board members may ask for suggestions on breeding dog recommendations. Dog owners may reply to such queries by suggesting their own dogs, only if their dog fits the specific criteria of the original poster. Excessive promotion of a dog by its owner or related parties is not permitted and will be addressed at the discretion of the moderators.

Services – Members may use the forums to ask for recommendations of trainers, handlers, groomers, vets, etc., and other members may answer those requests by suggesting themselves or their company, if their services fulfill the specific criteria of the original post. Members may not solicit other members for business if it is not in response to a direct, genuine query.

Products – While members may ask for general opinions and suggestions on equipment, apparel, etc., they may not list the specific attributes for which they are in the market, as such posts serve as wanted ads.

Event Announcements – Premium Members may post a notification of an upcoming event that may be of interest to fellow members, if the original poster does not benefit financially from the event. Such threads may not be “bumped” excessively.

Charities/Rescues – Announcements for charitable or fundraising events can only be made for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations. Special exceptions may be made, at the moderators’ discretion and direction, for board-related events or fundraising activities in extraordinary circumstances.

Posts regarding dogs available for adoption through IRS-registered dog rescue or placement programs are permitted in the appropriate forums, but these threads may be limited at the discretion of the moderators. Individuals may not advertise or make announcements for dogs in need of rescue, placement or adoption unless the dog is available through a recognized rescue or placement agency or government-run entity or the thread fits the criteria for and is located in the Adopt a Sheltie forum.