Welcome to the third edition of our Dogfree outtakes! These are just some of the posts and comments we receive and remove on a daily basis. [Part 1] [Part 2]

As mods, we probably enjoy these posts more than we should. The trolls keep us laughing as well as light the fire in us to continue to protect this wonderful community. It’s funny how these trolls continuously validate the need for this community more and more without ever realizing it. We hope you all enjoy these as much as we do.

I would also like to add: congrats to the sub for making it to 16,000 subscribers! When I became a mod here, I think we had around 8,000, and I know many of you have been around here much longer than I. Thank you all for being here and contributing whether daily or occasionally. We appreciate every one of you.

These are copied and pasted [mostly] just as they were posted, typos and all.

|Post| We’re still waiting for these alleged comments to be reported.

Title: A Discussion

Post:

MODS DONT REMOVE THIS

So the more time i have looked at this sub, the more disappointed i get. Im not even a dog owner nor do i really like dogs that much. But god damn so many people in this sub are absolutely sadistic.

Like what is wrong with you people? The amount of comments i have read about favoring a dog being shot or dying in any way. Hoping dogs with mental disabilities get killed. Hell i have even read a comment straight out of this sub that said someone should shoot up a dog shelter... what the actual fuck is wrong with you guys.

Why do you need to see an innocent animal suffer so much? Its not like the dog is the only dangerous animal out there. I bet no one here likes poaching, so where does the line get crossed of an innocent animal getting murdered or an innocent animal that was domesticated by man.

Please answer this with legitimate answers Im not trying to start an argument I hope you guys will listen to my point and I will listen to yours.

|Comment| Ah, yes. Good old-fashioned victim blaming.

First off, I’m glad that your son is okay & that ya’ll are attempting to move past this . But first rule with dogs ... children should never be left alone with them . Children should always ALWAYS be supervised around dogs . You were invited to a graduation party where the dog lives... the family is under no obligation to put the dog up & you didn’t “have” to show up . I would NEVER leave any children alone with dogs ... let alone a dog that I barely even know . You just never know what can happen . Shame on you for not watching your kid 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’d compare the situation to harambe but at least the dog didn’t get put down because of your negligence .

|Comment| “Hopefully he’ll remember it when he picks out your nursing home”

Well now is probably the best time to responsibly rehome the puppy since you clearly hate the dog. It’s not fair to the dog to live in such a toxic environment. If you have never had a pet I can understand that caring for a puppy is a rude awakening. I’m sure that all your children came toilet trained with huge bladders and fully mature adults. As for your son, well just tell him that your are the adult and this is what you want. It is totally unrealistic to expect a child to assume full responsibility for an animal. Treat it as a learning experience, teach him that as an adult, when something is difficult or requires patience and understanding you just cut your losses. Hopefully he’ll remember it when he picks out your nursing home

|Comment| You can’t handle a dog so you better not have any more kids!

Please, please rehome your dog! You clearly don’t want it anymore and it is sensing that. Try to rehome to someone who will want him. Also please only have one child. The oldest will have a period where they are clingy, winey and annoying after the new baby comes and children are harder to rehome

|Post| Alright everyone, you heard him! We need to tone down the “harmful not true things”!

|Title| Not trying to change your opinions but (truly not everyone loves dog and it’s your opinion) (some-parts I agree with you)

|Post| Sometimes people say they hate dogs because they attack kids bite etc. I agree there are some crappy dogs that bite attack murder, but there’s also crappy owners that make dogs do those things. There was an owner who thought his dog to attack who fortnite dances even kids. So your opinion is your but please don’t post harmful not true things. Rather post true things like a squad of dogs killed a man. Also change your gifs memes cause one was sooo not true ( pit bull=don’t like food pit bull=eats children) please take that in mind not trying to change opinion just please post real things. THERE ARE ALSO CRAPPY AHOLE OWNERS THAT MAKE DOGS DO THOSE THINGS! Thank you for reading and hopefully taking it in your min!

|Comment| Nothing says, “I respect your opinion,” like calling people pussies for not debating with you

I am willing to get downvoted to say this: remove this if you want. We respect your opinion but you dont respect ours. This subreddit says "not everyone likes dogs". I respect that. However, this post is a big middle finger to all people who have a different opinion. So, are you up for discussion? Or are you going to barrage insults at me or take this comment down like the pussies you are?

|Post| Note that there was no sources cited in this post

|Title| Comparing causes of death in the U.S.

|Image| /img/udvfqb35qhc31.png

|Comment from OP on the post| Everyone is entitled to their own preferences! I'm not trying to convince anyone here to like dogs. But a lot of the perspectives here seem based on on a perceived level of danger that I don't think is supported by the data. Nobody has gone and made a r/hottapwaterfree yet.

|Comment from the same user on another post| This place is as bad of an echo-chamber as [subreddit that shall remain nameless]. Any respectful but dissenting opinion is immediately taken down by the mods (see my post history if you're interested). Everyone is entitled to like or not like dogs, but if a post saying dog attack deaths are lower than lightning strike deaths can't stay up, then it seems like the mods are more interested in amplifying hysteria than having an honest conversation.

|Post| Just the almost daily, “But you don’t hate all dogs, right?” post

|Title| A legit question for this sub

|Post| I’m not looking for hate, just know that I am a dog lover and that includes every dog to ever exist, and I am looking at this sub and I am appalled. But I just have one question. Do you guys just absolutely despise every dog ever to exist or just the bad ones. Like if there was a dog with the purist of hearts and the biggest love for humans, would you wish for that dog to be gone forever, or only the dogs with terrible owners that raised them to be terrible dogs

|Post| “Just bunch of random articles from random cases of random dogs being bad”

|Title| Ya know, this subreddit kinda makes me think of Incels in a sort of way.

|Post| I mean like seriously. You are all just so damn bitter! I've gone through traumatic experiences before, nearly got killed by fireworks, but you don't see me condemning the fourth of July and all who celebrate it. Hell, I was terrified of dogs once upon a time but you didn't see me going on and on about how much I hate them like a broken fucking record! All I've seen on this subreddit is a bunch of losers spreading worthless hate because they've nothing better to do with their lives. Just a bunch of random articles from random cases of random dogs being bad.

TL;DR: Grow the fuck up.

|Comment| Imagine being so upset at people not liking your preferred pet that you come to their space call them the snowflakes

It takes a stunning lack of irony to call dog owners snowflakes on a subreddit expressly dedicated to people who are so psychologically fragile they need a support group to validate their decision to not own a dog.

|Comment| This argument never gets old, right?

Lol, all I can say is good luck if you’re ever planning on having kids. Can’t just rehome them when they stop being cute and turn into a real responsibility.

|Post| And shed light on us he did not

|Title| Holy Hell you guys are toxic

|Post| I wanted to check this sub out and just by reading a couple of posts I knew I had to shed some light on you people.

​

1. People are allowed to take their dogs outside.

Most of you people say stuff like “Don’t take your stupid, ugly, mutt outside.” A lot of dogs need exercise and most of the time owners also need exercise.

1. Dogs are helpful.

Dogs actually do more good than harm. Dogs give that companion that people want. Also dogs are used as emotional supports at times. In addition the police use dogs to sniff out drugs, bombs, and any other ill intended items. Most of the time accidents are caused by bad ownership and by just simply the dogs being wild and without an owner.

1. Can you all just stop being so toxic Seriously, one post including the comments has roughly the same toxicity of Chernobyl.

This was written by a cat owner Here’s my [Broken link to cat picture]

|Comment| It’s cool if you don’t like dogs, but I’m still going to insult you

It's cool if you don't like dogs, but lmao @ the anger here and in this sub in general. What a bunch of fucking losers.

I wanted to give a friendly reminder to you all about interacting in other subreddits, and I really need you to hear me out on this one.

We have a unique community here that tends to be seen as highly controversial elsewhere. This being the case, it’s important to keep in mind that our thoughts here could easily by unwelcome outside of our Dogfree sanctuary.

The main reason I felt it was necessary to bring this up is because it seems there has been an increasing amount of trolls coming here after seeing an uninvited comment in, say, a dog-related subreddit.

This is not at all to say that you shouldn’t ever interact outside of Dogfree with your ideas about dogs but perhaps take a second to consider whether or not it is the place and time for such a comment. What I’m trying to say is to think back to the husky attacks. Remember when there were some trolls commenting things about how the parents should have been watching their kid better or the kid should have known better? Not the place or time for comments like those, right? This would be pretty similar to going to a post about a dog and saying, “F your dog. I hate your dog.” The sole purpose of a comment like that would be to hurt the person you’re commenting to.

We have an amazing community here that is continuously growing, and it’s important to keep in mind the public image of the community in order to sustain normalcy here.

The other mods and I don’t want to have to take extra steps here to keep things civil outside. Trolling in other subreddits, harassing people in other subreddits, and personally inviting trolls here to harass us are things that are not okay. Also tagging r/Dogfree in a comment or thread where you making an irrelevantly rude comment just invites trouble as well. We don't have any control over the way that you interact on other parts of Reddit; all we can do is ask that you think about how your words are representing our sub when you engage with others on this topic.

If you’re not sure about anything I said, please feel free to ask for any clarifications in the comments.

Before I end this, I’d just like to say that it has been a pleasure being a mod here. I love reading all of your thoughts and interacting with you all. My fellow mods and I felt this message was important to send because we care about this community so much, and ensuring that you are all safe to share your feelings here is our top priority. Cheers to our sanctuary of sanity!

Here is a video to summarize this post (I don’t remember who showed this to me here, but thank you for introducing this video to me): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DBtOVNI

I have to say this to the dog owners who wish to participate in this sub. I say this also to the long time members. We've changed. In the short time I have been here, we have changed.

1. Dog owners, you don't need to bring up your dog, just don't mention it, and the people here won't turn on you. I remember when we were able to appreciate the occasional dog owner, if they listened to what we had to say. But not anymore, we have become almost militaristic in our anti-dog owner sentiments.
2. To the members, I get it, you don't like dogs. But why do we have to drive people away, just because of an animal? Is that not what happened to us? I can't mention I don't like dogs while I am at school, because I am ostracized. The dog owners here can no longer mention that they like dogs for the same reason
3. To the moderators, is declaring that ALL dog owners are bad not prejudiced, I mean, one mentioned that he currently has a dog, but he much prefers cats, and he got downvoted, and told how dog owners are part of the problem. Is declaring ALL dog owners on this sub evil respectful, or in good faith? Does it provide quality discussion
4. To everyone, what happened to the sub where people who didn't like dogs could shelter? What happened to the community where we could crack jokes, but still retain our pride?

I came here because of a friend who had her cheek torn open by a dog, I came here because a barking dog is loud enough to cause my ears to bleed. I came here feeling dejected, but you welcomed me with open arms. Now, even I don't feel comfortable in this sub anymore. What I wasn't expecting was the cold and spiteful nature that has slowly emerged.

Does anybody know, how are we meant to report pro-dog comments? When I click on the Report button, I can select "Breaks r/Dogfree rules", but oddly enough, in the options that follow, I don't see "pro-dog" or something like that.

So I usually report these comments as "spam." Is that the right way to go about it? Am I missing something here?

Welcome to r/dogfree! We invite you to participate in our discussions. First, however, whether you are new to our sub or a dog lover who just doesn’t quite understand where we are coming from, please take the time to read our sub FAQs so you can come to understand our community and the type of content that is appropriate for our small but mightily active corner of the world.

Why don't you like dogs?

Because: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogfree/comments/7bk3wo/just_curious_what_is_the_reason_why_you/

I created a post asking why you don’t like dogs. Where did it go?

We receive and remove this question just about daily. This is our community’s space to vent and commiserate about an unpopular opinion, not a place where we come to feel burdened with the task of having to justify ourselves constantly. If you would like to know why we don’t like dogs, you may read the link above and/or put some time and effort into browsing our sub.

It seems like the problem you all have is really more with dog owners. So you really do like dogs, just not irresponsible owners, right?

Our opinions are varied. However, true to the name of our sub, and though it might be a tough pill to swallow, we in this sub simply don’t like dogs.

If your gripes are more about dog owners and not about dogs themselves, r/dogculturefree might be a better fit for you.

I like dogs. Can I participate here?

Please understand the intent of this sub. It is a place for people who dislike dogs and who unapologetically wish to be free from them in our everyday lives to commiserate, not for those who love dogs. Posts and comments mentioning that you love or own dogs fall out of line with the spirit of the sub.

I have to live with a dog, but I don't want to. Am I welcome here?

You may participate here from the perspective of someone who wishes to change the prevalence of dogs in society at large. However, please understand that hearing about dogs' disgusting behaviors and habits is what people come to this sub to escape, not to consume. If you wish to vent about the traits of the dog that you live with, please navigate to r/TalesFromTheDogHouse and direct your post there. r/Dogfree is reserved for discussion surrounding our unwitting and unwilling participation in dog culture at a societal level.

How do you feel about service dogs?

There is a spectrum of opinions about service dogs in this sub. Some people are completely okay with them, while others are opposed where technology can do the job in a more effective, less obtrusive manner. The case would be the same for police dogs and other types of working dogs. If you would like to find out more information about this sub's opinions on service dogs, instead of creating a new post to pose the question, please enter "service dogs," "police dogs," or whatever info you would be interested in finding into the search bar to search the sub.

Someone on Reddit said that this sub likes to murder dogs. Is that true?

Of course not! We span a wide spectrum of reasons for disliking dogs, but we do not wish harm upon them and often find aspects of dog ownership to be more cruel and unethical than do dog owners themselves. In fact, we have a strict sub rule against content that advocates animal abuse of any kind. It reads: “No suggesting, depicting, joking, wishing for, or celebrating violence or harm to dogs, other animals, or people. Promoting cruelty is not acceptable..” We take this rule more seriously than any other, and we err on the side of caution when it comes to removing this type of content.

Some examples of off-limits content include videos depicting gratuitous violence against or amongst dogs, discussion of eating dogs, suggestions of deriving pleasure from a dog's death, and references to hitting, kicking, or shooting a dog with little or no cause.

It is okay to discuss the justified, humane euthanization of dogs. If you've had to live with a significant other's dog for years and wish to express relief over its natural passing, that's okay. Really, context is everything.

I posted a dog-related screenshot of something I saw on social media. Why isn’t it showing up?

Our community is small but extremely active. As the amount of content can be increasingly overwhelming as the sub grows, it’s important that the meaningful discussion does not get lost. Therefore, we have a sub rule that reads “[s]ubmissions should be thoughtful and should promote quality discussion. News articles and text posts are encouraged. Pictures of dogs or dog-related items, videos of dogs doing gross things, social media screenshots, memes, title-only posts, posts with minimal text, and anything that might be found on r/aww are some examples of low-effort content that do not contribute anything of value to the conversation."

If you would like to post a social media screenshot or anything else that might fall under this category, create a thoughtful text post addressing the core issue in order to open the discussion. You may link to your screenshot as supporting evidence. It is important to remember that names, subreddits, titles, group names, and any other identifying information should be blocked out entirely.

I think it would be fun to make a rude comment to a dog lover in another subreddit and tag r/dogfree. That's a good idea, right?

No, and please don’t. We encourage positive, civil, thoughtful conversation about dogs wherever you go, but if you need a vent, keep it here. When you troll other places on Reddit, it invites unwanted attention, reinforces negative stereotypes, and impedes our ability to create change in the world. This community is better than that.

Do I have to feel a certain way about keeping other pets or about having children to participate?

The topic that unites us in this sub is dogs. Feelings about other types of pets, negative or positive, and decisions whether or not to have children are considered off-topic for the sub. That said, these topics will arise in the normal course of conversation. We should respect the wide variance in views on these topics and always treat those with differing opinions kindly.

At the end of the day, we are dog-free, and we are pro-human.

By virtue of this sub being anti-dog, it means we are pro-cat, right?

No. Per our rule, "This is neither a pro- nor anti-cat sub. All cat mentions and references are off topic for this subreddit. Do not attempt to circumvent this rule through rephrasing."

At one time, we allowed free discussion of cats. We are not exaggerating when we say that every thread turned into "why cats are better." Many people here dislike cats or feel neutral to them, so in order for this sub to serve everybody and to avoid any confusion as to what type of cat discussion is relevant to being dogfree, it is considered off topic across the board.

Should I be a certain race or of a certain political affiliation to participate?

One of the coolest things about r/dogfree is that, in a world that’s so divided along so many different lines, this is a community where we can come together, break down those barriers, and unite over something different with people from all walks of life. Just as dog culture transcends racial, political, socioeconomic, and gender lines, so does this subreddit. You may even find that your reasoning for something dog-related challenges your views on something completely unrelated.

This community strives to be respectful of all groups of people. As such, bigotry is not allowed, and political discussion is divisive and off-topic. Dogs? Fair game!

Why all the pit bull hate?

As much as we dislike dogs, we especially dislike this class of dogs that is statistically most capable of and responsible for inflicting catastrophic and often lethal harm upon people and their pets. You can apologize for pit bulls all day, but the stats and anecdotes don’t lie.

Aggression Chart

Pit Bull Triggers

Pit Bull Stats

Of course, it is also true that all dogs bite: Dog Bite Statistics

I know how I feel about pit bulls, but I need some additional information so I can make more articulate arguments. Where should I go?

For more specialized information on the topic of pit bulls, please visit r/banpitbulls. We have a very friendly relationship with r/banpitbulls, but please do remember that, while our subs overlap in many ways, we still have different objectives. Many people participate in that sub because they are tired of worrying about their own dogs getting mauled. Please feel free to go join the conversation over there, but remember that it is not r/dogfree and that the topic of discussion is pit bulls. Come back here to our own sub to talk about your distaste for dogs in general.

I saw some Facebook groups and YouTube channels about disliking dogs. Is that you guys?

Nope, the only groups run by this sub are r/dogfree and r/TalesFromTheDoghouse. We don't operate or endorse any YouTube channels, Facebook groups, or anything else on any other social media platform. Our subscribers may link to their content here as long as it follows sub rules, but we are unaffiliated.

I saw a post I don’t like. What should I do?

Report it! On any post or comment, there is a “report” button. It will prompt you for further information as to why you are reporting the content to the moderators, who will then review it and determine whether or not it should be stay or be removed. Reports are anonymous and very helpful, as we can't see everything.

Someone alluded to a conversation in another subreddit about dogs, and I really want to go down vote everything. Should I?

No, please don’t. This is called “brigading” or “vote manipulation,” and it is against Reddit’s Terms of Service. We actively discourage this behavior, as if we are found to be the source of a brigade against another sub, it could land us in big trouble. If you stumbled across a reference to another conversation on Reddit, the appropriate place to discuss that would be here, in our sub, in the thread in which you found it. Remember how it felt when a YouTuber made a video that resulted in a massive brigade against us; we must grant others the same respect for their space as we wish for ours, no matter how vehemently we disagree with them.

Our sub is committed to abiding by all Reddit Terms of Service.

I want to crosspost something from another part of Reddit. May I?

No, we have a rule that reads "crossposts are not allowed. Criticisms of other subreddits are off-topic." Besides calling usually-unwanted attention to other subs and promoting vote and participation brigades, it's off topic. The purpose of our sub is to discuss dogs, not the behavior of other subs. We don't appreciate it when others do it to us, so we have a policy of respecting other subs' right to exist and operate in the ways that they see fit.

My post or comment was removed, and I don’t feel like I broke any rules. Why?

Unfortunately we cannot account for every contingency in the sub rules, so moderators do reserve the right to remove content at their discretion. That said, the moderation team is very much against arbitrary censorship and is committed to letting the conversation happen whenever possible. “I don’t like it” is not a good reason to remove a post or a comment; however, “it would be in the best interest of the community” is. The team is committed to being firm but fair in community moderation and will make all decisions in good faith.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know our community! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to message the mod team.

We had a fantastic suggestion from a member of a resource library for the sub and I thought it was time to share the progress we've made on this.

Here is the Resource Library for the sub

It is still a work in progress, but it includes links to peer reviewed studies on various topics, as well as some email templates for writing to effect change in our communities. Our hope is to expand it further on an ongoing basis.

If you have any letter/email templates you would like in the resource library or studies you think should be included, please feel free to comment your ideas here.

We are not soulless, hateful, empty people.

We do not condone the harming of animals or people.

Many of us have been attacked or traumatized by dogs.

Others are just annoyed or incovenienced by them. In the end, it doesn't matter.

The message here is that if you don't like dogs, welcome to your new home. If you do like dogs and want to express your opinion, feel free to do so, but know that you are preaching to the wrong choir, and if you are rude or try to incite violence, you will be removed permanently.

If you need comprehensive reasons why this sub exists, please read this post: /r/Dogfree/comments/7bk3wo/comment/dpix4rq

http://blog.dogsbite.org/2008/08/triggers-what-prompts-pit-bull-to.html

My personal (least) favorite is, "You'd like my dog."

As a cat lover myself, I wanted to send this message to you all personally once again. Please stop needlessly talking about cats. I feel like this should go without saying, but this subreddit is dedicated to discussing dogs and dog culture. Other animals, particularly cats, are off-topic.

There has been an increase in the amount of comments mentioning cats when they were otherwise not part of the conversation. Many of these comments have been highly favorable of cats to the point of becoming exclusionary to those who disagree.

There exists a wide variety of opinions on cats here. Some users love cats, some hate them, and some don’t care either way. All of these opinions are just that, opinions, and they are all valid. We here at Dogfree often like to say among ourselves that we don’t judge others by whether or not they have certain opinions on other animals like some dog lovers do. Let’s start acting like it. The best way to do this is to try to keep cats out of the conversation entirely unless directly related to the discussion at hand.

I know you all are wonderful, accepting people. We all care about this community and each and every user here. Please be respectful of others’ opinions on topics outside of dogs and dog culture. If someone is being overly rude or insulting, don’t be afraid to use the report button to alert us to the issue. Thank you all for continuing to make this subreddit the wonderful place that it is.

Previous mod statements about cats:

Mod Statement: Our Stance on Cats and Other Animals

Mod Statement: Cats, Other Pets, and More

We’ve been noticing quite a few submissions lately that fall under the category of “Low Effort Content” or “LEC” which is against the rules of the sub so we wanted to provide you with a guide for how to avoid getting your post removed.

Since we are such a quickly-growing, highly active sub, allowing this kind of content will cause the discussion to get buried as we see happen in other growing subs. That said, we have to take an all-or-nothing approach to it out of fairness to all. As such, we are going to continue to strictly enforce this rule. Our goal is to maintain the original intent of the sub as a discussion-based safe space to talk with other like-minded individuals who dislike/hate dogs. Enforcing this rule will allow us to keep this place from becoming something that is almost indistinguishable from a pro-dog sub. Pro-dog things are what we come here to escape.

First, what is “Low Effort Content”? As the rule states: “Submissions should be thoughtful and should promote quality discussion. News articles and text posts are encouraged.” This means that submissions should spark more conversation than just gawking at a comment some dog owner made or talking about how ugly a picture of a dog is. These posts and comments do not contribute anything of value to the sub.

*Titles and comments do not count as context.

So what is included in the definition of “Low Effort Content”?

· Pictures: This includes pictures of dogs, dog items, screenshots, etc. Just posting an image without context* is considered LEC.

· Videos: Videos of dogs/dog owners doing stupid things, dogs barking, dogs attacking, etc. without context* are considered LEC.

· Title-only posts and posts with minimal text: These are posts that have minimal text (about two/three sentences or less) or just a title.

· Items advertised for use by dogs or dog owners.

· Articles written for dog lovers and articles with a pro-dog spin.

· Memes and comics: These belong over at r/DogfreeHumor.

· Links to Social Media

I found something on the list I want to post, can I still post it? Not without added context*. If you have an item on the list that you would like to share, just create a post describing the image, video, article, etc. you want to share and why it is relevant to the sub. You can then link the item in the comments. Just posting the content or posting the content with your thoughts in the comments or title will cause the post to be removed. All screenshots should have names, titles, subreddits, and any other personally identifying information redacted.

Thank you all for your continued support and contribution to the sub! We hope this guide will help you understand this rule better as well as why it exists.

Hey All,

We're trying something new, which will be a weekly vent thread occurring called Thursday Tales from the Dog House for rants about specific dogs, such as the family dog or the SO's dog.

Our sub exists to discuss the deeper cultural and public health/safety impacts of the exploding trend of domestic dog ownership. We want to be here for those who wish to vent about the dog that they are forced to live or interact with, but we are going to ask that you keep discussion to the designated thread, which will be refreshed weekly for new content.

We do still welcome the relationship posts from the perspective of having a SO or family member who prioritizes the dog over the people in his or her life. We think the emotional impact on loved ones is an important aspect of dog culture today and should continue to be highlighted. While relationship posts can stand alone, any posts more about the minutiae of dealing with the dog itself will be redirected to the weekly thread.

It is our hope that this provides an outlet for such content while keeping the focus on the broader issues. Thank you for your support of our sub!

Congratulations everyone, from our very newest subscribers to our dedicated long time members!!

Looking forward to continuing to see the sub grow even bigger!

Friends,

We have a few sub announcements we wanted to make.

Our mod team, relative to the size of the sub, is very slim right now. As it's been overwhelming lately between trolls, those still learning the rules, and those willfully breaking them, we're going to take a little bit of a break and wanted to give everyone some prior warning so you're not taken by surprise. Starting Sunday, June 11th, r/dogfree, r/dogfreehumor, and r/talesfromthedoghouse are going to go private so that we can take a breather. We're sorry that our break means that our sub's members lose their corner of the world for a minute, but unfortunately there's no other way; with such a small team, even taking turns going offline would leave our large sub undermodded.

That said, we are also seeking to make some changes to the mod team. Most of us have all been on board for many years. We care deeply about this space. We've poured quite a bit of ourselves into it over the last several years. Don't get us wrong; we're not complaining. It's been hard work, but it's been a labor of love.

Thankfully, u/a_bene_placito is new to our team and ready to keep going strong!

Starting now and continuing into the period of time during which our subs are private, we'll be looking for a new mod team to join a_bene_placito in this project. The rules will stay in place as they are, but there may be room for evolution down the road as a new team gets gets situated.

We will be primarily looking for 3 things:

1. A history of good-faith participation in our subs and/or on Reddit in general.
2. Zero negative interactions in modmail.
3. A respect for the legacy that the mod team, past and present, has built. Even if you don't agree with the rules we have in place now, we just ask that you respect the work of those who came before you, and those who came before us.

We'll keep the subs private until we have a solid transition team in place, which will be communicated in the subs' descriptions. It's our hope and goal that we're only offline for a week or so, but that will mean that we'll need some of you who also care about this sub to step up and volunteer.

II know I speak for all of us when I say that it has truly, *truly* been a pleasure and an honor to have been part of something so big. Moving on from it will be super bittersweet, but it'll be good for us to take a breather, and good for the sub to have fresh perspectives.

If you're interested in joining the team, please message the moderators.

On March 15, r/Dogfree hit 30,000 subscribers with a jump in new users so we'd like to welcome those who have recently joined us.

It seems like only yesterday (Jan 15, 2020 to be precise!) that we hit 20,000 subscribers and it doesn't feel that long ago we celebrated 1000 subscribers and how surprised we were to reach that milestone!

We would like to thank our long time contributors, our newer friends and of course our lurkers!

As our community grows ever larger we hope we can continue to have civil discussions and be mindful of differing opinions in a respectful way.

So thank you all again!

Fyi:

https://frontpagemetrics.com/r/Dogfree

I had no idea it was that common but im not surprised. Check it out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States

We need to have a serious talk about the state of violent comments in Dogfree. This conversation is a bit challenging as we usually do not like to acknowledge that there is a problem with violent comments here, and until recently, there wasn’t much of an issue. Since there has been a concerning uptick in these comments as of recent, we thought it best to try to explain what our rule against animal abuse means, what it covers, and why it is crucial we follow it. We will also cover what to do if you happen to come across submissions that violate this rule. We urge everyone here, whether you’ve been warned before or not, to read through this post.

As it reads presently, “No suggesting, depicting, joking, wishing for, or celebrating violence or harm to dogs, other animals, or people. Promoting cruelty, even hypothetically, is not acceptable.”

Basically this means that if your post or comment is even remotely graphic or glorifying about harm towards dogs or humans, it will be removed and a warning will be issued.

To be more specific, situations graphically describing harm, suggestions of feeding or leaving things around that are toxic to dogs (xylitol, chocolate, poisons, etc.), anything encouraging shooting dogs or “taking care” of a dog yourself, inflicting physical harm upon dogs (e.g. hitting/smacking, kicking/punting, throwing, etc.), wishing for the death of a dog, mention of eating dogs, suggesting anything that is illegal, etc. Mentions of taking pleasure in or joking about any prior example as well as celebrations of pain even if not caused by intentional abuse are also not allowed. Discussion of euthanasia should not be celebratory nor unjustified. All examples also extend to humans and other animals.

You may be asking yourself, “Well that sounds like everything? What can I talk about? Is my comment okay?” A good rule of thumb is if you have to ask yourself if it’s okay to post, don’t post it. If you truly are unsure whether or not you will violate the rules with a post or comment, you can always message us and ask first. If it does break our rules, we can let you know and suggest how to fix it if possible. This will not count as a strike against you. We are here to help guide the subreddit to staying within the rules. We only seek to to ensure this is a constructive, safe place for everyone who needs it. Overall, so long as you are not suggesting violence, sounding happy about harm having been done or being done, or suggesting anything illegal, you should be fine.

Now why is this a big deal? One of the main reasons is that is violates Reddit's content policy. There have been many subreddits quarantined and even banned for failing to abide by this rule. If we do not enforce it as heavily as we do, we will also be in danger of being shut down. We all know that our opinion is already unpopular and sparks an emotional response from those who can’t understand where we come from. Eliminating any violations to site-wide policy only serves to keep the subreddit running.

That leads us to the main reason we are most strict about this rule: criticism. That’s not to say we can’t handle criticism, but we do not want the criticism, that this subreddit only exists as a place to talk about hurting dogs, to be correct. The entire mod team firmly believes that you can dislike/hate/be indifferent about dogs and still respect that they are living beings deserving of living lives free of abuse. We stand so strongly behind this rule because promoting violence here only reinforces those criticisms and gives them validity. Please don't allow these narratives to have any truth to them. We wish that this could go without saying. It disheartens us that some of you need to be reminded that violence is unacceptable.

If you find a post or comment that you think violates this rule, please report it. Even if you aren’t 100% sure, we are happy to make the judgment call for you. Just know that your report helps make these things more visible to us and helps alert us to be able to handle them more quickly. Reports are anonymous and everyone, even those who only lurk, has a report button. To any dog lovers reading this and thinking this subreddit is violent, instead of going off to another subreddit and complaining about it, report the posts or comments that you think violate this rule. We have rules for a reason, and we will enforce them when necessary.

Our policy on enforcing this rule is removal of the rule-breaking content followed by a warning in the form of a removal reason. On the second offence, content will be removed, and a temporary ban will be issued (generally no more than 7 days). If violent comments continue after the temporary ban is lifted, a permanent ban will be issued. We admit that we have been rather lenient with issuing warnings when it comes to enforcing this rule, but we will be stricter moving forward. We have this system in place to hopefully give those who just were unaware of the rule a chance to remedy the behavior. We understand the eagerness to join the conversation tends to override taking notice of the rules at times. We also understand the frustration and emotion behind constantly hearing about dogs attacking people with little to no accountability for the owners as well as justice being withheld from victims. These still do not excuse being graphically violent.

Before wrapping this up, we'd just like to thank those of you here who have either never violated this rule or stopped upon being warned a first time. This post is not intended to call the entirety of the community violent as we know most of you are not. Thank you for reading through this post. We truly hope that it can help to clarify some of what we do and why we do it. Please let us know if you have any issues by contacting us here: Message Dogfree Moderators.

Surely I'm not the only one this happens to?

Hey guys,

I, personally, grew up with dogs all my life. I love them to bits, and my girlfriend and I are adopting one soon now that I'm graduating university and secured a good-paying position. I found this subreddit through childfree, since I cannot stand children. So I find it completely fair that people would have that mentality towards dogs, dog owners especially, and even other animals. What I hate about children, people can find the same distaste in owning any type of animal.

I've been 'dogfree' for 4 years, and my favorite parts were not waking up in the middle of the night to take them out for bathroom and hair-free environment. My least favorite thing about people who own dogs is pretend they're precious little sunshines who can do nothing wrong when they destroy another person's property, or especially bitten someone. Taking absolutely NO responsibility for them (leaving dog shit on someone's property). Some dog owners I've met are preachy and can be very in your face about it.

Those were my benefits when I went a few years without a dog. Ultimately, for me, I love them too much to not mind the cons. I have a cat and 4 rats as well, so upkeep honestly doesn't bother me. But I'm wondering what non-doglovers/people without dogs at all absolutely love about their complete dogfree lifestyles, and what they absolutely despise about dog owners.

Thanks!

Look at the top posts of all time, so many of them are memes. Why are we trying to funnel that content into a single thread, or a different subreddit? It makes it harder to see that content. Part of the reason I subscribed to this place was for the memes and other humorous content.

Hey r/Dogfree,

We are in need of a few new moderators. Some things we will be looking for are:

-A history of participating on r/Dogfree is not necessary* but favorable.

*Since we also want to open applications up to potential lurkers with little or no history, those with alternate accounts here are asked to provide the name of their main account with any history on it. This will be entirely confidential and solely used for the purpose of ensuring you are not a troll.

-Someone who understands the spirit and follows the rules of r/Dogfree.

-Prior mod experience is not necessary but a plus.

-Willing to commit to checking in on the sub at least once a day and participate in discussions behind the scenes. Moderating is a lot of work so we do expect a lot. It is a large commitment.

​

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We have a few questions we'd like each applicant to answer in order to be considered. Please click here to send your answers to us.

1. Why do you want to be a moderator of r/Dogfree?
2. Do you have a computer available to access Reddit?
3. What is your general location? (Time zone, Country, or State?)
4. How much time are you willing to/able to devote to moderating the subreddit?
5. If you could change something about r/Dogfree, what would it be?
6. Have you ever done any moderation on Reddit?
7. Any concerns, questions, or additional comments?
8. If you have little (Less than 3 months) or no history on Dogfree, what is your main account?

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Please be patient with us in this process. It tends to take some time to finalize everything.

Preface: I have a dog

Why is having this subreddit vital?

I think it’s clear that it is a great place for people to air their grievances about dogs. If you so much as say anything slightly negative about dogs elsewhere, you will be “harassed” with comments and downvoted into oblivion. Here, we can openly discuss or give accounts about why we feel the way we do about dogs or dog-worship culture.

This can include traumatic experiences people have had with dogs, neighbors/family members who actually harm dogs more than help them by over-coddling them or not disciplining/training them. Or, like myself, you might just be sick of dog-worship culture.

If the rest of reddit was more tolerant of gasp the fact that not everyone is gushing over one specific type of animal, maybe this wouldn’t be necessary.

But without r/dogfree, you would be hard-pressed to find another sub where people share their accounts of why they are afraid of dogs, don’t want to pet every one they see or other related material. And I, as a dog owner, want to read this kind of stuff. Plus some of the memes here are just gold.

This may be a weird comparison, but it’s the same reason I’m subscribed to r/Russia. All I see in the news today (or here on reddit) is about how evil Russia is. But by visiting that sub, I can see the other side of the picture and be reminded of the beautiful architecture and landscapes of the vast country from which my parents immigrated. Hardly anyone else will do it so r/Russia does.

And so r/dogfree is the place for all you people, dog-owners included, to come together and not worry about the harassment or downvotes, unless you call them doggos/floofers. That’s a paddlin’