So what do we want here?

What I've seen a lot of is people who's only expertise is their own opinion.
There are definitely people here with genuine expertise in one facet or another - often a variety, but they are treated with disdain and disrespect by some folks and it blurs all the boundaries of what's ok to post and what isn't.  Granted, everyone should be treated with respect, but I recoil at some of the stuff shot at our resident experts whom MANY of us have relied on over the years.  They're the reason why many want to be here.  The others who don't respect that are the ones causing a majority of the stink... in my non-expert opinion.[]

ORIGINAL: probe1957

Then it shouldn't have been posted here because this is a DISCUSSION board.  If you want to make statements and have them go unchallenged or uncommented on, that's what blogs are for.

 
The world must be about to end [sm=rofl.gif] because I find myself agreeing with Billy yet again.  If you ask a question on a forum, you will get an answer.  If you throw out a statement, you open it up for discussion.  There is no privacy on a public forum. I think what really derails a thread is bickering and/or name calling between two or three people that degenerates into pages of *content removed* and does nothing at all to help anyone.  That should definitely go to PM and be kept  there.
 
Joyce

ORIGINAL: fuzzy_dogs_mom

The world must be about to end [sm=rofl.gif] because I find myself agreeing with Billy yet again. 

 
Holy cow, Joyce.  I think that is like twice this year.  []

There are definitely people here with genuine expertise in one facet or another - often a variety, but they are treated with disdain and disrespect by some folks and it blurs all the boundaries of what's ok to post and what isn't.

But often - the disrespect is mutual. Most of the wonderfully knowlegable people on this board are a great resource and wonderful teachers. But a few have shown that they believe positive-training should left to the dogs. They don't realize that canines aren't the only species that will "shut-down" when corrected harshly.

ORIGINAL: jenhuedepohl

There are definitely people here with genuine expertise in one facet or another - often a variety, but they are treated with disdain and disrespect by some folks and it blurs all the boundaries of what's ok to post and what isn't.

But often - the disrespect is mutual. Most of the wonderfully knowlegable people on this board are a great resource and wonderful teachers. But a few have shown that they believe positive-training should left to the dogs. They don't realize that canines aren't the only species that will "shut-down" when corrected harshly.

With all the "I hate humans" threads, is it any wonder? 

i agree... i see that a lot with "dog people" .. many of them i meet (here and elsewhere) arent .. people people in the slightest.
i'm one of them, but hey... i was raised by dogs lol i mean that literally..... my babysitters were bulldogs. my friends were dogs when i was a kid.... i couldnt related to people for a long time.... and yeah i hated people... i was VERY misanthropic....

i'm not that way anymore.... thankfully i grew up and got over my rotten attitude and quit blaming everyone for my screwy childhood..

but it seems a lot of dog people just dont want to, or cant relate to people in any form...... for what ever reasons they have.... its sad i think. and it also results in a lot of the animosity you see lately.... "People are so DUMB!" type threads are just a little over the top... they arent all dumb... just that one who ticked you off....
i dont consider myself a dog person like i used to.... mostly because of the "dog people" i've met over the past few years..... i wont go into detail but i have met some scary scary folks. not to mention uptight, pretentious, stuck up, rude, clannish, aggressive..... no not ALL dog people are that way... but some give me the creeps... and i am NOT referring to anyone on this forum. i'm talking about people i've met at dog parks, dog shows, and petsmart....
i like dogs, but i like them the same amount that i like other animals....

ORIGINAL: DumDog

i agree... i see that a lot with "dog people" .. many of them i meet (here and elsewhere) arent .. people people in the slightest.

So true. So sad.

its sad we cant keep PMs private.... i guess i am the naive one to assume that if i sent someone a PM that it would indeed stay private..

I outed someone on another forum once because he pm me a lot of verbal abuse - you know, of the go *bleep* yourself.  He struck me as a bully who found courage in the privacy of a pm. So I outed him to the group. He denied it, "why would I say something like that?". I assured him that I did not erase it and any moderator could validate my accusation. He shut up.

I see pm as the opportunity to try to be discrete about a discusssion, take a discussion off on a tangent without derailing the discussion on the forum, etc. I would not recklessly out a pm. It should be private as it was intended. But that guy was hiding and being abusive.  It reminded me of a story I read about Japanese protocol - the story related that on the very crowded subways, some men take advantage and will give a woman a feel. The most effective reaction, according to the story, was to grab the hand, hold it up in the air and ask loudly, "whose hand is this?".

ORIGINAL: denise m

ORIGINAL: DumDog

i agree... i see that a lot with "dog people" .. many of them i meet (here and elsewhere) arent .. people people in the slightest.

So true. So sad.

*shrug* dog people, horse people, cat people, bird people, golf people..... you can find the type most places where fanciers congregate.

JMO
Paula

ORIGINAL: miranadobe

What I've seen a lot of is people who's only expertise is their own opinion.
There are definitely people here with genuine expertise in one facet or another - often a variety, but they are treated with disdain and disrespect by some folks and it blurs all the boundaries of what's ok to post and what isn't. Granted, everyone should be treated with respect, but I recoil at some of the stuff shot at our resident experts whom MANY of us have relied on over the years. They're the reason why many want to be here. The others who don't respect that are the ones causing a majority of the stink... in my non-expert opinion.[]

Well said Paige!!

Well i started on that other thread asking questions and A LOT of "why dont you do this first? why dont you wait a little bit? why dont you do this first and then that?", i posted a link about dogs moving to a new home, etc

Yes, i actually was giving advice, a dog's life is in jeopardy and people were telling me that everything was going to be fine and she didnt needed to wait, snownose posted the link with all her other problems to show that she might not be in the best conditions to do so, not to attack her

Dont try to cover the sun with one finger, everything indicated that the situation was not going to get better the way she was planning, people, give advice instead of just being like "yes dear"

ORIGINAL: paulaedwina

ORIGINAL: denise m

ORIGINAL: DumDog

i agree... i see that a lot with "dog people" .. many of them i meet (here and elsewhere) arent .. people people in the slightest.

So true. So sad.

*shrug* dog people, horse people, cat people, bird people, golf people..... you can find the type most places where fanciers congregate.

JMO
Paula

true i suppose.. not to offend but i havent met many horse people i liked either(and i met many working on a ranch for four years,). i met only two bird people, they were actually fun with their huge blue macaw parrot, and i knew some golf people... stuffy is the word i would use to describe them. one was an alcoholic, but i think his servive in the British Army in Ireland had something to do with that. i told him i didnt like golf and thought it was boring and he said "You know NOTHING! You ignorant child!" [8|] ok lets go whack some little balls with a huge iron club, wee! crap.. where did it go?
Car people are kinda iffy... i have met some folks that would deserve to be attacked by "Christine" but i have met some that were goofy loveable friendly well meaning honest and kind etc.

so i know you cant tar everyone with the same brush, but it SEEMS if you make something your passion, or obsession, then you become it. its all you know, and all you want to know. which is fine i guess. everyone needs a hobby. but it seems that some people are a little too consumed with it. they take it too seriously, what ever their hobby/fettish is...
but it also seems that certain groups tend to have a lot of the same characteristics. i like dog people that can actually say "Ever see Best in Show? its toooooo real! when you've been in the dog world as long as i have been... you start to see those characters come to life!"

Benedict

It does not matter what you say. It doesn't matter how well you say it, or how valid your point is. If you say it like a jerk no one will care or remember what your meaning was. They will just remember that you were a jerk, and the next time you need help you might just find that the person you insulted was the one person on the forum most equipped to advise you on your situation. And he or she won't do it. Because you were a jerk.

Not only that, but future posts from such a "jerk" that may actually offer useful information will not be considered because that person has destroyed his/her credibility.
 
I have read a number of posts lately that made me cringe.  The "holier-than-thou", judgmental, condescending attitudes are not helpful in the least.  Nor is the offering of "useful" information in a way that strongly implies that the poster being addressed has no idea what he/she is doing - even if that is true.
 
If you (the general you) don't care to make the effort to present your viewpoint or information in a way that will not offend the person you are addressing, then why bother to post?  If it is for other people reading the thread, don't worry - they will get the message.  However, that message is "Don't post unless you are prepared to handle this type of response".

g33

It was her choice to leave. No one told her to leave, no one called her "stupid" or a "bad person". She didn't get 100% agreement in her post, which IMO is what she was looking for.

Agreement on what?  She stated facts - "Here is my pretty new puppy.  This is my situation and the problems I am working on."  My take (and hers, I'm sure) on several of the posters was that they said "You are in over your head and you don't know what you are doing".  One doesn't have to call a person names to be insulting. 

g33

She had many options available to her other than leaving the board. She chose that one, and made us all wrong in the process based on our reactions to everything she's shared. Hopefully she learned something, whether or not what she learned has anything to do with any of the situations she posted about, is another question.

That person has her hands full right now and doesn't have any reason to want to also deal with the melodrama of threads like the one you are referencing.  I saw no dog-related information on the thread that I thought she needed to learn from.  I hope she ignored the implications that she didn't care about the safety of her dogs.
 
Whether or not she is in over her head remains to be seen.  Unfortunately, now this board may never know or have the opportunity to really help. 

"Ever see Best in Show? its toooooo real! when you've been in the dog world as long as i have been... you start to see those characters come to life!"

I loved that movie. I could identify with it so much.

Paula