Why should people join the Sheltie Forums?

Kelly

Kelly

Administrator
Hi everyone!

I would love to hear your answers to this question:

‘Why join the Sheltie Nation Forums?’

Let’s say you are trying to encourage people to join our community. What reasons would you give to encourage them to join? What makes our community relevant to you? What do we do well? What makes our members great?

I want to hear all your ideas and hope to read a lot of answers! :wink2:

(We have A LOT of lurkers, so come out, come out where ever you are!)
 
In no particular order:

1) This forum is made up of a cross-section of experienced breeders, long-time sheltie-owners, vets, regular Sheltie lovers that are dedicated to our breed. We share our experiences, trials and triumphs to help each one of us become a better Sheltie owner.

2) We are focussed on our breed (e.g. as opposed to Dogster) so most topics are relevant to what we need to discuss

3) There is a sense of ha-ha and camaraderie and the forum allows us to stray beyond "Shelties-only" to share funny or poignant stories about dogs in general

4) I feel like I know just about everyone on this forum. We all have our quirks and you start learning about the people behind the name, and tailor your responses accordingly. This is NOT some anonymous Yahoo Asks that gets all the crazies responding in silly ways. WE HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE!

5) This forum has been an incredible support group for me and others. It extends beyond Shelties sometimes, but it is the ability to insert our personal situation into the threads from time to time has been very healing for me - because I'm hearing from people who have gotten to know me a little and have experienced similar issues in their lives.

6) I've made a few connections with people now that I think will extend beyond this forum.

7) While we focus on Shelties, we leave to door open to introduce other life events into the forum....this just simply helps us to know each other better.

I have belonged to other dog forums and other Sheltie forums. I have to say its been over a year since I visited any of them. This is the only one that I've ever felt a personal connection to. And for that, it has my loyalty and committment to support.
 
For myself I certainly enjoy all the stories of everyones Shelties. It's fun to read about all their silly quirks and entertaining antics. I think most of all though with Chandler and Gypsy having so many issues this year it has been a real comfort to me. Many people have gone through some of the same issues and have offered advice,many have not but have been there for me because they understand the undying love I have for Chandler and Gypsy and offered their prayers,concerns and advice. It's been a tough year and I have spent many a day here to get through it.
Why should someone join the forum? knowledge,laughter a commradery that you most likely won't find elsewhere,and the pure love of the breed that is found amongst all of the members here. :biggrin2:
 
The amount of information you can find out is huge! I am always amazed at how much I have learnt about dogs from the forum. I have learnt so many different techniques for handling issues of behaviour and training, and in my dog sports that I would never just pick up through classes. I know so much more about health and when to go to the vet.

While reading other people's posts helps, the biggest benefit is to be able to discuss something that I have been mulling over, or a problem I have had and getting other people's input. And it often amazes me that there is someone on the other side of the world going through the same thing as me!

This is definately the friendliest forum I have been on and there is just not the vitriol I see on other dog forums.
 
The support!

I just love this forum because I feel like I know everyone and the support that we get no matter what the problem is always so helpful and useful. I find myself going on here several times a day just to check in.
 
To connect with other Sheltie-owned people worldwide has been an amazing reason to be on this forum. As has been said, the information and support and comaraderie is amazing. The support is there whether it is for an pup that is sick or we have lost or whether it has been something in our personal lives that others support us and help get us through. When I lost my Mom in June, the support and compassion shown here went a long way in helping me - I had more support from people I have never met than I did from some close family members.

Thank you Kelly for providing this wonderful forum for us. It has been a learning experience and fun at the same time.
 
I think Barb summed things up quite nicely; thank you, Barb.

For me, its the people. I can come in here and talk about the smallest detail of my life with Edan and CJ and no one gets annoyed at me for "talking about the dogs again". :lol: I laugh but its the truth. Only another person who loves dogs is willing to talk ad infinitum about them and to talk to others who love the same breed as you makes it more special.

When there are problems or questions with raising our dogs, regardless of age, the breadth of knowledge available here is simply incredible. Is it always an answer to the problem at hand; no, but its another option or thing to try or, quite simply, hope.

There is a family feel to the forum and I like that.
 
Silaria said:
I think Barb summed things up quite nicely; thank you, Barb.

For me, its the people. I can come in here and talk about the smallest detail of my life with Edan and CJ and no one gets annoyed at me for "talking about the dogs again". :lol: I laugh but its the truth. Only another person who loves dogs is willing to talk ad infinitum about them and to talk to others who love the same breed as you makes it more special.

When there are problems or questions with raising our dogs, regardless of age, the breadth of knowledge available here is simply incredible. Is it always an answer to the problem at hand; no, but its another option or thing to try or, quite simply, hope.

There is a family feel to the forum and I like that.
Click to expand...

BarbV and Silaria both sum it up very well for me. The knowledge and support this forum has provided me with has been a God send. I don't know how I would have gotten through last year without my sheltie forum friends around the world. I've learned so much here and made such good friends. I never expected to feel so close to so many people who are so far away.
 
I agree with what everyone has said. Not only do we share interests, support and knowledge, but I really feel like everyone here is a "friend".

When my husband gets home I often say things like "Did I tell you what Bailey did today?" I feel like I've established relationships and truly know many people on the forum. My husband, who doesn't read the forum, knows them too!

I also love being able to come here and learn from others. We are so lucky in that we have (as Barb mentioned) experienced breeders, groomers, long time sheltie lovers, obedience champions, agility champions, etc...

Since Bentley is our first agility dog, I love being able to come here and asking questions that many provide their opinions on. We are members of a small agility club and the feedback we get is limited. Here we have the benefit of many different views.
 
For Me having not been on the forum for long and new to the breed after 30 years with border collies, the info & other things That I have seen in discussions has been of a lot of value to me, at least I now know I don't have the strangest sheltie on the planet and some of the quirks that he does have seem to be quite normal for shelties :yes:
 
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