I was also going to suggest some kind of 'like' section for a particular poster. Perhaps a thumbs up/thumbs down system for each user.

This could stop scammers and unethical breeders ads from appearing so positive. One downside is that they may just open multiple accounts and post separately or vote on themselves...

You could have obligatory sections to fill in on an ad such as:
KC registered?
Hip Scored?
Other relevant health tests?
Life-time Support?
etc...

Perhaps you could have different sections for people to post litters in such as the following (these are not suitable names )
Rescue - from a linked rescue centre
Rescue - People giving up animals
Cross Breeds
KC registered kennel pedigree (not sure what this would be called but someone that has been breeding, showing etc for a while, health tests, has an affix etc - they cannot post in the section otherwise)
Other Pedigree (I bred a cocker to cocker so have a pedigree cocker but am really a BYB)

Not sure how this would quite work, but it might help in some way to have people post in the right section, and hopefully though education people might understand the differences in these sections. Of course it would have to be heavily moderated to know what was what and nothing to stop people posting in the wrong section so maybe isnt practical afterall....

Not read it all, so sorry if its been said, but I see this as a bad idea, and the idea to help rescues by giving every bad byb or puppyfarmer who wants it a platform to sell their pups seems a bit strange to me, and I think after a while of adverts that shouldn't be placed anywhere being linked to Dogsey will make members angry, and could cause a fall out, and allowing bad breeders to advertise here could drag dogsey down like a sinking ship, forums get judged by their members and what happens on the forum, and the other sites have a bad rep coz of who they allow to advertise, no matter what your long time goals are, I think allowing the ads that make dog lovers angry to be advertised linked to dogsey could do unreversable damage to any rep that this place has. Members from here are already angry by certain dog ads, you can see it in the forums, and I wonder how many will actually stay, no matter what they say, if a forum that they use is linked to such ads, JMHO of course.

I agree

We would probably look at how the other sites do it and do similar - bearing in mind that to begin with we don't actually want to alienate the 'advertisers', as we need them to help us kill off the other sites first. I know it sounds weird, but it's actually quite crafty

Also, perhaps we will need to come up with an easy to digest article that helps explain why 'cross breeds' are 'bad'. But we'll do it BBC style by being as impartial as possible, stating positives and negatives, so that people are more likely to listen as they'll consider it fair.

Glad you like the idea Deb. We won't be giving any false impressions - in fact we will be very clear that any tom, dick or harry could be advertising on the site, and prospective buyers should be diligent. We'll then give them tips on how to be diligent

Good idea, although I worry how much we'd be able to trust them, as people may sign up accounts just to up or down people they like or dislike (or even fake accounts for themselves). It would be very hard to police, because no transactions will be taking place via the site itself - so we'll never know whether someone who said they bought a pup actually did.

Even with abuse aside, I'm not sure they would help paint an accurate picture because most people won't actually know what a good breeder is, and will be likely to judge on how well they get on with their breeder or on how healthy their pup has or hasn't been. It's a good idea but in practise I don't think it will work on this type of site or help us achieve what we really want :/

Hi Guys - I'll reply to the other posts tonight, I just gotta go out and get some more meds for Rocky, and don't want to rush any replies.

So from reading more of your posts, this site is not going to take the format of a chat forum

Its more of a free add site, or do potential members have to pay a fee to use the advertising service.??

I really don't understand the point of it, if its going to be the above.

There are enough free ad sites that allow anyone to sell their wears/animals/dogs on, what possible benefits would your idea provide... you will let anyone advertise , good and bad.

What happens if one person buys from a PF / BYB due to you allowing them to advertise on your site, all the warnings in the world wont stop you being part of that unethical practice, can you live with the fact, you played some small part int hat, even if you had the best of intentions.......... thats enough for me to say its a bad idea!!

I suppose a star rating could be used, stars awarded for things like bitch at correct age when bred, health tests, knowledge of COI, good reason for breeding, rep, or feedback from buyers, but all can be lied about. And unless you let all these designer crosses be called what the breeder wants, they will go elsewhere, and so will the buyers, who want a name, not a cross. I just don't see this as a brilliant idea, as all it will be is another stage for idiots, that people think if you link Dogsey to it condone, and truth be told to outsiders who love dogs, and know about the problems with free ads etc, it will look like another site where people don't care, I think personally trying a site for good breeders, with info why could be a better way, before you end up with a site that norfolk mountain dogs are being sold off, or maybe campaigning for more strict rules for selling animals could help, at least online to begin with, as Im sure even diamond freeads newspaper offers some advice for selling puppies, not sure its read and taken notice of a lot though, but dogs do end up in rescue after being brought from there, but I do think the ethos of the site and breeding will be blurred if puppy farmers are able to use a site linked to here to make money and then get rid of the ex breeders.

Just some thoughts:

I can certainly see the benefits of what you are considering, Azz. I can see what JB is saying too though: 'if you lie down with dogs you will get up with fleas'.

I'm sure you are considering thoroughly but I would have concerns that the high moral reputation Dogsey has earned could be tarnished. It could appear that you're compromising your ethics, even though you'd be making it clear that it is not what Dogsey stands for, to get some cash in - that's not what I think, of course - I 'know' you better than that but I feel it could look that way to some who don't. I'd also be concerned that some of these advertisers won't care about the disapproval surrounding their presence/actions - it's a chance to advertise on a site such as Dogsey. I feel we've had people like that in the past, e.g. trying to flaunt certain electronic devices. No matter how people stand against it, while they are allowed a voice they will use it ad infinitum and reap benefits by reaching people they may not otherwise reach.

It's slightly different because this has come about via discussion on the forum, rather than just placing an ad, but we've seen members of breeding groups continuing to post on Dogsey, despite receiving a good deal of disapproval and criticism. It has had the benefit of bringing unpleasant things out in the open but it must also have had the effect of advertising and gaining interest. Having said that, I wish I'd known some of the ins and outs as have been documented on this site before I bought a dog.

You could not justifiably ban puppy farmers and the like from the forum then could you ??
Adverts that embellish the truth ..?
claims that cant be proven ie .a doodle that is hypoallergenic, a cross that is claimed to be something it is not ...

it`s not as simple as that tho unless your actually willing to moderate adverts before they go live , it is actually very illegal to allow the advertising of such dogs , i`m sure you yourself would not be wishing to go down that route should the authorities decide to make an example out of any free ad site that allows such ads? it`s something i personally would not risk.
section 1[2] of the dangerous dogs act and amendment sets out the rules very clearly.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications...-enforcers.pdf