RULES Remember What Rules Are Made For..... "To Be Obeyed" FROM MSN http://groups.msn.com/conduct 1. MSN CC rules do not allow solicitation for money in any of the Groups. (Selling Puppies etc.), for whatever reason. 2.  No "Spam" on this Site. 3. No Links to promote your site  (dog related or otherwise), untill at least you introduce yourself properly and establish yourself in our group; otherwise it is considered as SPAM!  **Kindly inquire to management (Crissy or Julie/Jewel-Clancy) if it's OK to promote your site before posting on the boards.** 4.  No links or discussions on Religion, Politics or Sex! They will be removed and you will get a one time warning about post of this kind.   5. To promote your site once you are a member: Advise management and we can add your banner to our  "Members Banners" section. 6. No Yelling, shouting or screaming. It is considered rude to type in all 'CAPITAL' letters. 7. No abuse, bashing or flaming!  Abuse to any member or their pet is not allowed here. 8. No trolls! "Trolls" are people who purposely cause trouble within a site and sit back to enjoy the chaos.  Trolls will be banned.  9.  Treat all members with the respect that you'd like to be treated with. 10. Use of 'Trademark'  or  'Copyright' characters (such as in gifs and graphics) anywhere in Sheltie Mania is strictly forbidden by MSN.    NOTE:  Gifs, images and graphics (and anything that would allow the use of the following) that contains image/s, in full or part, of any "Trademarked" or "Copyrighted" character, logo, symbol, emblem, etc. is strictly forbidden by MSN and puts our group at risk for being shut down if such above mentioned items are used. 11. Kindly be considerate to others  in your messages and in chat.  Mind your language please. 12. Messages that are not directly related to dogs or pets should contain the letters NDR (for Not Dog Related), or  "Off Topic" in the subject line to let members know the content of the message is not directly related to dogs.  As a courtesy to members, it is also suggested to use the letters NSR (for Not Sheltie Related) in the subject line when a topic is about all dogs in general.  13. Never copy or paste any article, email or instant message from any other source, be it a member of Sheltie Mania or otherwise, without permission of the author. 14. The Management Staff has the ability to ban or cancel a membership and will do so only when absolutely necessary. Management reserves the right to do so at their discretion and without notice. When a membership is banned, the individual is not allowed back into the group. If a membership is cancelled, the individual may re-apply for membership. and if they continue the offensive behavior, then they will be banned. 15.  Occasionally the Management Staff may moderate (review) incoming messages before they appear on the message boards. This is done with everyone's safety in mind and would likely be a temporary situation. The Management reserves the right to moderate messages at their discretion only when they feel it is absolutely necessary. 16.  Do not post any sensitive personal information within messages, included but not limited to: full names, addresses, phone numbers, place of employment, etc..  This is for your own protection.  Use caution when posting your email addresses too.  Remember, while Sheltie Mania is a "closed" group, we do have over 1000 members, and every single one of those members are able to access all of the message boards and posts.  Be safe.    If the above rules are not followed, the Management staff reserves the right to cancel or ban the offender(s) membership from our group. **************************** We  are one "Big Happy Family" & we intend to STAY THAT WAY We suggest no members under 18 years old. With the understanding that some topics may be inappropriate for children. **This is not an adult site.** Management monitors the message boards at all times and does not allow SPAM.   The chat room is not usually monitored, but if it is it will be monitored* by a member of management only between the hours of 8:00 to 9:00 pm Central time.  *It is impossible to moderate the chat room around the clock and during the normal chat hours, a monitor may not be present.  It is up to the members in the chat room to be on their best behavior and to report any abuse to the managers immediately.    We expect everyone to keep things nice...no spaming, flaming, personal attacks, etc.