I was going to express dismay at the paucity of topics on the forum. There seems to be a diminishing number anyway. And lo and behold ! An astonishing number of new ones today  But all ..trash.

I thought topics/posts were pre-moderated? There being so few these days the excuse cannot be that the board/ moderators are overwhelmed.

Re paucity of genuine posts. Perhaps people get anxious in case they face harsh criticism/ censure if they do comment or post on here.
I am really sensitive to negative responses but it doesn't stop me posting and replying to posts.
Or is everyone on Facebook ? IMO the latter and its spinoffs are responsible for so much thatb is wrong in the world today. I'm thinking spread of misinformation, hate crime, holocaust denial , self harming and of course the rise of populist/would be dictators.

Any ideas of ways to get the board to buzz again ?

Just spammers. Posts are only pre moderated in controversial subjects.

Re Facebook - there's good and bad as in most walks of life. My daughter's dog was stolen recently and we went into overdrive sharing all over FB. The dog was back home within hours as she'd become too hot to handle. Just one positive story. :)

Me too Jan - thinking how few posts were on here just now, and then boom .... loads of spam.  We are being invaded   It's going on on another breed-specific website I frequent and on there, they are in German or Dutch

Re Facebook. I agree Goldmali, As usual I am making sweeping generalisations.
I have a sort of facebook account from the days of helping the refugees in Budapest in 2015. We had to communicate where to do the food drops etc. Now of course illegal there.
But I was shocked to find a couple of really sinister posts on my account, from people I knew in the past. Not long after that I was involved in a very distressing situation regarding a dog i bred. I just ignored invites on facebook after that.
My  daughter works for an organisation dealing with human rights and hate crime and sends me links from her facebook account detailing how to send appropriate help.
My husband is quick to point out that human rights activists iin oppressive regimes need facebook to communicate their plight . But the most oppressive regimes do not allow dissent anyway and have their own intranet and surviilance systems in place .
Positive stories always welcome re Facebook. But after my experience it's not for me.

re spam. My email spam box fills up with enticements of a sexual nature. Some very explicit and much of it due to the fact that my short form name is masculine in many Eastern European countries. Weird that my hsband isn't approached in this way.
I wonder if anyone falls for all of this

Problem is that many people don't want genuine advice but confirmation of their own views or what they've already decided to do.

There's been a lot of people coming here asking questions about breeding their dog or finding studs/bitches to breed with.

So as a forum to promote responsible breeding with responsible breeders, replies about do they have health tests, registered, free of endorrments, are they able to take the puppies back if the owners can't keep it, have they proved their dog in the ring or work. Then there's sometimes serious confirmation faults and you get attacked for pointing them out.

Case in point a want to be breeder on Facebook but the bitch has terribly weak Pasterns, flat footed and looked crippled with it, it wasn't just a confirmation issue but a welfare issue that's strongly genetic and difficult to breed out. So I politely told her about it and said she'd be better off keeping her as a pet and getting another dog from a reputable breeder for her breeding goals, as she'd likely pass it on. I got called every name under the sun by loads of people, "who are you to judge" "everyone starts somewhere" "you're gatekeeping" "people like you are the reason irresponsible breeders exist, you put people off asking advice"

Now I was polite throughout and never said she shouldn't breed dogs at all just that this individual dog was unsuitable for breeding due to genuine welfare reasons.

I feel it's gone worse over the last 10 years that anything negative, even if it's true and said with the best of intentions, is viewed as 'bullying'. I see it here too. New members don't stick around because they don't like the truth and a lot of old members don't post because they get attacked for putting dogs welfare first.

I miss Tommee. He upset me very much when he first joined the forum but I soon realised he was absolutely correct in what he said. He certainly knew his stuff about Border Collies, and pastoral/herding breeds in general. He provoked lively debate and I learned a lot from his posts.
Come back Tommee !

Re accusations of bullying. It seems people have the lost the ability to accept constructive advice -we dare not use the word criticism these days- without calling out the one giving the advice as a bully.
I could write a book about it. hmm Someone close to me did. Well it's in the book anyway.

Re abuse in response to your advice CDL it must have been very hurtful but the arrogance of ignorance is universal. And those guilty of it will always find validation of their views from those who are guilty of the same.
Fortunately there are long standing members of this forum who give their advice and wisdom generously. I have learned a lot here. I know we don't always agree but I do learn from what is said.

> It seems people have the lost the ability to accept constructive advice -we dare not use the word criticism these days- without calling out the one giving the advice as a bully.

God, you're not kidding.  A couple of weeks ago, someone commented on a thread on a dog rescue's group on FB about a dog that was biting.  No information was given about circumstances etc but one person stated that the dog needed to be socialised more.  He was rightly called out for giving potentially dangerous advice for a dog he knew nothing about.

But his response to that was to say "I'll look elsewhere for a dog now I've been abused on here"!

I have never been interested in doing Facebook, much as occasionally I look in but of course, cannot comment.

When I feel I'm being put down, or bullied, I now block that individual.  That means they are still there, but at least I can't, don't have to read what they have to say.

Social media can be hard to negotiate these days and a thick skin has to be rapidly developed me thinks.   Before I finally stopped, it was similar with showing - it seemed all people wanted was to WIN.  Long gone were the days of a social day out with like-minded people. 

I think there’s a lot of entitlement happening recently, you can give your opinion about whether a dog should be bred, or shown, or whatever, and people immediately get defensive because it’s their RIGHT to breed or show, and how dare you suggest they shouldn’t?

It’s especially silly if someone posts asking for advice and then goes off in a huff when they find out they aren’t in an echo chamber.

This happens a lot on another forum I’m on. Unfortunately the ability to edit posts doesn’t have a time limit like here and quite often if the thread isn’t going the way the author wants they then delete their posts leaving a strange thread with answers but no question. Most old hands have caught on to this and quote the authors first post in case they delete it later, if that fails the mods will often reinstate the deleted bit if they feel it’s relevant. It’s so frustrating when people go out of their way to offer good advice only to have the OP have a foot stamping moment and storm off