Lance Cyndi Alison Anne Kim Charlsie Mary TO ALL MEMBERS: What - TopicsExpress

Lance Cyndi Alison Anne Kim Charlsie Mary TO ALL MEMBERS: What follows is a sentiment that I posted many, many months ago and long before I had the privilege of being an Admin for the group. Heck, maybe it’s why I was asked to join the team. :-) I am reposting it as a member of the group, not an Admin, yet I’m confident the entire Admin team shares in the sentiment of this message. RESPECT and TOLERANCE. We are all here for the love of the breed. Some of us are here to learn, others to teach…most of us are here for both. And, we’re here to enjoy amazing photos, wonderful stories and to be a source of support for the not so wonderful stories. It’s okay to have a different opinion or perspective, to share a different experience or way of doing something. It’s even okay to disagree. Every one of us here is passionate about the breed and our own dogs; each of us brings a unique perspective and experience. It should NEVER be okay to treat anyone with disrespect or to be disrespectful in the wording and tone in a comment. There is NEVER good to come from that and it’s just not okay. Let’s remember that’s it is rarely what we say (even in disagreement), but how we say it. Written words need to be given a bit more thought (maybe even take a deep breath) before hitting “post” or “send”…leaving just a bit less to (mis)interpretation. When shared thoughtfully, kindly, respectfully and without judgment, we learn and grow, even (and especially) from those differences. Maybe, we even change our perspective from time to time and we learn to take things a little less seriously. There is irony here as well. We are all blessed and fortunate to be owned by a breed that is the epitome of respectful behavior, being tolerant of SO many things (good and bad) and all of the many wonderful traits that endear us to them. Let us all be just a bit more like them. Personally, for a variety of reasons, I’m a huge fan of this group and feel very blessed to have developed some lovely friendships with incredible people. Ive learned so much and Ive had the incredible opportunity to teach just as much. I re-post this with a heavy heart and on the heels of a thread today that crossed the line on a number of levels. For those of you who missed it, consider yourselves lucky. I’ve opted not to provide any details here because the behavior is not worthy enough to repeat. It was disheartening to witness how a thread played out. To read the rude, disrespectful, intolerant, critical, judgmental, and mean spirited comments…sparked by an awkwardly worded post/question...and to see how badly and unfairly another member had been treated. I’d like to believe that none of us come here for that nonsense. And, I’d like to encourage each and every person not to partake in it and not to tolerate it. Cyndi and Lance…As co-founders of IHS, thank you again for your objectivity, for trying so hard to right situations when they lose all sensibility and for empowering all of the Admins to do the same. It is always unfortunate when extreme measures are necessary…reprimanding a thread, closing a thread, deleting a thread, and even reprimanding and/or removing members from the group. But, when it’s necessary to keep IHS a safe and healthy...a go-to place that is productive and informative…fun and funny…the place you intended when it was set up…then, kudos for a job well done!