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Big and Little: want some feedback on a proposed suggestion

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Eponine

Love- unconditionally.

moderator		 
 
Barked: Fri Mar 4, '11 12:05pm PST 
I've been thinking a lot about the feedback I've been seeing around the forums re: the small dogs forum.

It was started as a promotional thing, a sponsored forum, but it's taken off so much that it is now a firm fixture. But I've seen a lot of dissent about "why small dogs and not big?"

I came up with a suggestion, but I thought I'd propose it here first and get some feedback, and only submit it as a suggestion to HQ if others think it's a good idea as well.

Instead of having separate forums for small and large dog concerns, why not have a forum called Size Matters (or something similar) and have it be devoted to the especial concerns of having a dog of your dog's size, whatever that size may be?

I think it might make things more even and answer some of the concerns that have come up about the small dog forum, without adding too much clutter to the forum list if that's a concern.

Thoughts?
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Harlow

st. francis of- asses		 
 
Barked: Fri Mar 4, '11 2:16pm PST 
I never saw a reason for having separate forums, they are all dogs that we love no matter the size. Some of the small dog owners did say that they had different training concerns than large dogs. But if you keep separating, where is it gonna end? Small dog behavior and training? Large dog Health? Medium dog Food and Nutrition? Kind of silly to me.
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Eponine

Love- unconditionally.

moderator		 
 
Barked: Fri Mar 4, '11 3:05pm PST 
Well, the idea behind having a small dogs forum is not to have a place where small dog fans go to segregate them from large dog fans, and then talk about all the same stuff as in the other forums, but to have a place for discussion of the challenges unique to having a dog that is small, just to clarify.

My thought is that, if that's causing bad feelings, why not change the forum name to something inclusive of ALL concerns dealing with size issues as opposed to having to have separate small/med/large/giant/whatever forums.

I just don't know if that would solve the problem nicely or make everyone even MORE upset, which is why I thought it might be a good idea to see what others think of that...
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Harlow

st. francis of- asses		 
 
Barked: Fri Mar 4, '11 5:24pm PST 
"Well, the idea behind having a small dogs forum is not to have a place where small dog fans go to segregate them from large dog fans, and then talk about all the same stuff as in the other forums, but to have a place for discussion of the challenges unique to having a dog that is small, just to clarify."

But thats exactly what happened with the small dog forum Eppy. They talked about issues that were geared towards small dogs but in areas we already have forums for - food, health, training. So if we are gonna have a forum for just small dogs to talk about the same things that are being discussed in other threads, why stop there...have a lab B&T, a beagle food & nutrition, a boxer health thread and so on. That's why I find all this separation so silly, yes dogs are different but do you realize how many threads you would have for all the differences? We could have grooming separated between long-haired and short-haired dogs! And what about all the dogsters that have both small and large dogs? Which threads do they go into?
Just my opinion, Im sure everyone has a different one.
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Eponine

Love- unconditionally.

moderator		 
 
Barked: Fri Mar 4, '11 6:35pm PST 
Well... okay gotta play Devil's Advocate here a sec because uh... we totally do have breed specific forums already. laugh out loud

That is good input though, don't get me wrong! It's the kind of discussion we should have about this.

I have heard "we love the small dog forum!" and "we want a big dog forum!" and "why was that created I think it's stupid!" so, don't feel alone in your opinion either. My only goal here is collecting those opinions and feeling out whether we might come to some kind of consensus on a good solution for what seems like a conflict we could pretty easily find a solution for that will satisfy, if not everyone in the community, at least most people. big grin
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Harlow

st. francis of- asses		 
 
Barked: Fri Mar 4, '11 7:17pm PST 
Ok, one more post laugh out loud Yes, I know we have a breed specific forum, one most people do not post in. But it is specific to breeds, not divided into issues for breeds such as health, training and food.
My point was we can divide stuff up all day but its still a DOG forum. Dogster has already divided food up into 3 forums, they keep dividing things up and it's gonna get very confusing.
What I find so facinating about these threads is the amount of information I can get. All the different ideas and theories out there. If we get so stuck in small dog, large dog, breed specific, food specific, how will we ever learn new things?
Ok, rant over, Im done...
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Dr. Watson

Not a wiener- dawg!		 
 
Barked: Sat Mar 5, '11 6:20am PST 
Well said, Harlow!applause
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Eponine

Love- unconditionally.

moderator		 
 
Barked: Sat Mar 5, '11 7:27am PST 
Gee, I was with you for a bit there, but now I have to say I disagree with taking the idea that far. I have always felt like the organization makes certain kinds of information so much easier to find! And from a moderation standpoint, the food forums are much less volatile now that there are three. Less of people needing to feel like they have something to prove/defend.

Don't forget that Dogster is a super busy forum with a lot of members. If we only had one "folder," I could make a thread in the morning and soon find it hopelessly buried pages away by afternoon. It would lead to a lot of repeat threads and less responses in single threads. It would ultimately make the forums harder to use properly.

On the other hand, I do see the value of making things more streamlined, which is why I feel a single "size specific concerns" forum is a better way to go than a big dog and a little dog forum. I guess it's also of value to ask people how they would feel about the small dog forum simply being dissolved without replacing or renaming it. However, that would mean the permanent removal of all those posts... there'd be no where to put them (at least, I for one am not spending weeks sifting through them and trying to figure out what other categories they fall under and moving them there, that's labor-heavy and I do have a BIT of an offline life haha). Hm.

This is all just speculation, mind you. The decision would most certainly not be up to me at any rate, I'm just trying to look at it from all angles. That's the fun part of having so many people creating a space together! laugh out loud

Now, Harlow and I are having this awesome discussion here, and what I want to know is-- WHERE on earth are all the Dogsters who were talking about this issue in other threads?! laugh out loud We've got the stage all to ourselves here! Two people is hardly a community-wide consensus!
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Bella and- Daisy CGC

I'm a Meanie		 
 
Barked: Sat Mar 5, '11 7:37am PST 
IF, the small dog forum were changed, and NO MORE added, it might be ok.

But dang, they keeping adding forums, WHY? I mean, I know its for money, but when the sponsorship goes away, the forum stays. Very annoying.

Like now, the senior dog forum. I don't have a senior dog right now, but I have had them in the past. But anyone who posts there might miss out on good info from those of us who have been there cause we don't feel like we fit there at this point in our lives.

Really, it is just doing a diservice to those who need help.

Also-for a community discussion, you'd need to post in a busier forum. This one isn't very used.

Edited by author Sat Mar 5, '11 7:48am PST

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Shane DEC- '08-JAN '12- RIP

In dreams I walk- with you..		 
 
Barked: Sat Mar 5, '11 8:35am PST 
With blue dogs being so much more attractive and intelligent than other dogs, I feel they should have their own forum. Being the "rock stars" of the dog world, they have their own unique set of issues such as dealing with over-zealous fans and paparazzi that plain dogs aren't burdened with.
Of course there would have to be a special code to post in there to keep out the riff-raff. They'd be allowed to lurk, look and dream, but no speaking to us.

blue dog
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