This list is for communication among dog owners in the area, about dog-related
topics. I also hope to arrange various social activities, including many doggie
play-dates. Hopefully, those of you with large, fenced-in yards will allow a
couple other people to visit with their pets and socialize. The goals of this
list will change and evolve with what members want from it. Please bear with me,
as we’re still a very new group!

So, here are the general rules:

1) Please be courteous to others on this list. Do not be insulting. If a
discussion gets heated, I will ask everyone to end it.

2) Please use proper English. Avoid cute shortcuts which result in poor spelling
or the inclusion of numbers (ex. “luv,” “h8”). If spelling and grammar are weak
points of yours, just do your best. We won’t jump all over you.

3) Keep unrelated topics at a minimum. This means anything that is not related
to owning dogs. If you have a topic which is unrelated, please put "OT"
(off-topic) at the beginning of the subject line so those who don't wish to read
it don't have to.

4) Please sign all your posts with at least a first name/nickname so we know who
to respond to. This helps us keep track of who said what.

5) Please trim your posts! This means leaving only the applicable lines of a
previous post in your own post. Rarely is it necessary to leave another person's
whole post attached to yours, and it is NEVER necessary to leave multiple
people's posts at the tail end of yours. For those who read the Digest version
of the e-mail, it's very frustrating to have to scroll through a super-long post
simply because someone didn't delete the excess baggage.

6) Keep this list PG. I would love for our youngest dog-owning friends to feel
comfortable and safe here. This means your language as well as any content you
introduce (including links) must be appropriate for children.

7) Topics relating to dogs which are political are definitely allowed here. It
would be great if this group could unite dog owners into making changes in
legislation, where necessary. Again, though, if the topic grows too heated, I
will ask everyone to end it.

8) Topics which hold a certain amount of liability, including dog training and
dog health, are NOT allowed on this list. Please go to a professional to have
your questions answered.

9) Please, for your own safety, do not give out personal information over the
list. If you must, send messages with personal information directly to the
individuals who need them (such as when arranging play dates at someone's home)

10) When a rule is broken, a general reminder will be given to the whole list,
with no names mentioned. If an individual violates the rule again, they will be
reminded privately. Further violation of that rule will lead to that individual
being placed on monitored status (with notification, including reason for
monitored status). Finally, if the rule is broken again, the member will be
banned from the group (once again, with private notification and reason given).

These rules may get modified as the need arises. I will post the rules to the
board regularly, as well as when changes are made. If you don’t like any of
these rules, feel free to contact me and I can modify them to meet the goals of
group members.