Introduction to rec.pets.dogs.*

Author

History of rec.pets.dogs.*
Current Groups And Charters
Acknowledgements
History of the FAQ's

History of rec.pets.dogs.*

Prior to the summer of 1991, there was a single newsgroup for discussing issues of interest to pet owners. This was rec.pets, and this group still exists for those pets that don't have their own newsgroups.

Rec.pets.dogs (and rec.pets.cats) was formed in the summer of 1991. Joe DiBenedetto proposed the split and collected the votes, which proved more than enough for its official creation.

In the late summer of 1994, another discussion on splitting rec.pets.dogs itself started up, due to the hundreds of daily messages on the group. This split was proposed by Cindy Moore, and Ronald Dippold collected the overwhelmingly positive vote. The new splinter groups were created on November 9th, and rec.pets.dogs removed two months later.

Original Charter for RPD

Rec.pets.dogs is a newsgroup devoted to domestic canine issues. This group can be friendly and helpful. Flamewars are generally limited to several topics: crating dogs, training by the Koheler method, docking and cropping, animal rights activism, wolf hybrids and pit-bull (or other breed) dog bans. New readers are advised against starting these topics up on the newsgroup as long, protracted, and inflammatory discussions often ensue. The facts pertaining to these controversial topics are covered in the FAQ's. This is not to say that these topics are forbidden from discussion on rec.pets.dogs, but that regular readers would greatly appreciate it if you checked out what the FAQ had to say on them to make sure you have something new to contribute.

Current Groups And Charters

Quick Summary

rec.pets.dogs.activities: Dog events: showing, obed, agility, etc.
rec.pets.dogs.behavior: Behaviors and problems: housetraining, chewing, etc.
rec.pets.dogs.breeds: Breed specific -- breed traits, finding breeders, etc.
rec.pets.dogs.health: Info about health problems & how to care for dogs
rec.pets.dogs.info: General information and FAQs posted here. (Moderated)
rec.pets.dogs.misc: All other topics, chat, humor, etc.
rec.pets.dogs.rescue: Information about breed rescue, placing and adopting

The groups were created on 11/9/94.

Charters For rec.pets.dogs.*

rec.pets.dogs.activities

This group is for the discussion of activities involving dogs. Examples include but are not limited to conformation, obedience, field trials, herding trials, frisbee/disc competition, flyball, hunting, sledding, backpacking/camping and hiking. Other appropriate topics include discussion of training for the particular activity, physical conditioning, how to hook up with activities available in your area, etc. Sportsmanlike conduct is expected; in particular, derogatory comments about activities you don't care for are frowned upon. Use of keywords in the subject line to clearly identify your activity is encouraged.

rec.pets.dogs.behavior

This group is for the discussion of typical behavioral problems with dogs. Examples include but are not limited to: digging, barking, aggressive behavior, housetraining, crate training, etc. Also appropriate is discussion of "why" dogs behave as they do and how to work with that to eliminate some behaviors and reinforce others.

rec.pets.dogs.breeds

This group is for extensive breed specific discussion. Topics may include breed specific health problems, locating breeders of particular breeds, discussing breed specific abilities and characteristics, asking about what breeds make appropriate pets under what circumstances. Clearly identifying the breed you are discussing in the subject line is encouraged.

rec.pets.dogs.health

This group is for health and medical questions related to dogs. This includes, but certainly is not limited to, questions on hip dysplasia, epilepsy, eye problems, diabetes, bloat, allergies and skin problems, etc. Hereditary and acquired diseases may be discussed, as well as traumatic disorders. Questions about nutrition and feeding are also appropriate here. This newsgroup is not intended to replace veterinary care in any way, but is to help inform the dog owner about canine health.

rec.pets.dogs.info, moderated

This is a moderated group and only posts faqs and informational files relevant to rec.pets.dogs.*. The moderator is Cindy Moore (rpd-info@iname.com) Appropriate faqs that are already cleared for posting to news.answers are automatically eligible to be posted here. Others that are regularly posted (and listed in "Complete List of RPD.* FAQ's") are also eligible for posting here. No discussion is permitted on this group. This group is intended to make the faqs and artictles with useful information for RPD more visible and easier to find, especially for newcomers.

rec.pets.dogs.misc

This group is for miscellaneous questions that are not more appropriate for one of the other groups. This includes chat, humor, anything pertaining to canines not explicitly covered elsewhere. This group replaces the original rec.pets.dogs group.

rec.pets.dogs.rescue

This unmoderated newsgroup proposed as rec.pets.dogs.rescue will be used for the discussion of all aspects of dog rescue. Topics appropriate to this newsgroup will include, but are not limited to:

General questions and answers on dog rescue.
General announcements relative to various rescue groups.
General discussion of methods to use in helping a rescue dog adjust to its new home.
Idiosyncrasies found in rescue dogs, i.e., fears, aggression, etc., and how to handle same.
Training or re-training the rescue dog.
Breed specific rescue group information.

History of the FAQ's

Michael Mahler attempted a FAQ in 1991 that consisted of compiled but unedited articles saved from the net. Due to time constraints, he gave up the project, and I received copies of the articles that he had saved and incorporated much of them in here from other readers. I have heard of other attempts at FAQ's well, but no real details.

The current suite of RPD FAQ's started out as eight articles, patterned largely after the RPC FAQ's the author had just completed. These were put out publicly in the summer of 1992, and have since grown to over 20 FAQs and some 80 breed specific FAQ's. Many of the breed FAQ's are written by volunteers familiar with or researching the breed.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to thank the posters of RPD.* over the years. Many of them contributed substantial material for this FAQ. A good number have pointed out errors and corrections, keeping the FAQ's wonderfully up-to-date. Some contributed unknowingly, as I lifted their posts directly from the newsgroup, obtained them from summaries kept by other people, or lifted them out of mailing lists. Without this body of knowledge and contribution, these FAQ's would not exist. A complete list of the faqs may be found in the regularly posted "Complete List of rec.pets.dogs.* FAQs" on rec.pets.dogs.info.

To thank every contributor has proven increasingly impossible over the years as the numbers have swelled beyond counting or listing. But a few I would like to thank in particular are:

Marla Belzowski (for her initial encouragement and Collie FAQ), Stephen R. Lee (for the Mushing section and Mal/Sib FAQ's), Liza Miller (for her extensive contributions to the Puppy FAQ and the Lab FAQ), Lily Mummert (for her extensive comments on herding), Michael Sierchio (overall comments, feedback), Charlie Sorsby (information on hunting tests), and Rusty Wright (for much of the original material on Guide Dogs).

I'd like to thank Michael Buening for the creation of the Rescue FAQ and Janice Ritter for its current maintenance. Kathryn Hogg wrote the Flyball FAQ and Jeff Parke has commented on different sections in the Medical Info FAQs. Bonnie Dalzell generously contributed the Lurecoursing FAQ, and Amy Hendrix the Selecting A Dog FAQ.

Finally, I'd especially like to thank all the authors of the Breed FAQ's who contributed their time and expertise to write the documents.

Introduction to rec.pets.dogs.*
Cindy Moore, cindy@k9web.com Hosted by