Thanks Val....Aside from my probable negativity, let me add.....you Val, Meredith and JenniferB overlap each other and are on here to help, maybe not as often as you may want, but obviously life happens, but I think overall, many of us see you, Meredith and Jenn here, so in no way is any of my comments directed at any of you....

It's probably part of it Renee, but to me a mod has more to do with making sure posts to a certain subject aren't being abusive or misstating or misleading in their facts. So just because they aren't posting doesn't necessarily mean they aren't contributing, per say, it might just mean that any advice contributed as been adequate and there is t a need to add more or reiterate what someone else has said.

The other day a couple scrapbooks and a couple other threads were spammed with husky t-shirt ads, it was stopped and removed by a mod almost immediately. Another time I can think of is when that one poster went off on me for no reason and Kelly came in and stopped her. So sometimes we *see* they are here, sometimes we don't, but I do think they've been doing a great job of making sure things are run smoothly. The only area I have seen needing much help is in HOTM, where help has been given to Kelly a couple of times, but the help didn't follow through to the end and Kelly ultimately had to finish it anyways, which led to things being later than normal and things of that nature. Not that huge of a deal of course, but Kelly should be free to focus on her new little one without having to think about coming in here and making sure HOTM is running smoothly.

Tori, thank you for posting in here.

Renee, As a mod the #1 thing i try to do is look for spam, people miss behaving and answer PM questions and look at flagged post, and gather pictures from HOTM. #2 is posting on the forum when there is a topic i feel i can answer. I have never had a puppy, the #1 question around here seems to be about puppies, i really have nothing to offer on that other then to say cute puppy. I try my best to answer hiking, rescue, and other topics in the medical area as that is where i have the most knowledge. It would be nice to have a few more mods that are spread in other areas of the topics, but an Admin is a HUGE deal and needs to be someone special.

i am always free to PM as well and most of you know i do respond as soon as i can.

in order to keep this place moving it needs to progress with MODs and active people over time, for the most part all of the MODs right now have been here since the start or just after the start, thats a few years! that is pretty good if you think about it. But it is time to add some fresh blood to the mix to keep things going.

I don't think I was intending my comments as negative, nor do they seem to have been taken that way (thankfully) It just seems as if there a half dozen who seem to be the primary people who are answering questions and all too often when someone new comes on they're in some type of crisis and need an answer. It's easy enough over the weekend to acknowledge that the forum is a bit slow since people are out getting on with life ... it's more difficult during the week when there are 25 or more posts in the daily chat and a new user seems to have been ignored. Thankfully we do have people who do service as a 'Welcome Wagon' (and I admit I'm generally not one of that crew).

As has been noted, and we all know all too well, Life Happens; people move, kids get born (or graduate or get married or ...), jobs change, etc ... and sometimes people just need to take a break from 'things' once in a while. I don't know how to bring more people actively into the fold who reply - I wish I did.

Jimmy and Jennifer, I do understand the role of mod, and the removal of spam and the few times posts get out of hand things have been taken care of. The issue as I stated and has nothing at all to do with Val, Jennifer, or Meredith is lack of added support in threads. There have been weeks, maybe months at a time where there are less than 6 people who will help in any given question thread. I will mention myself only for now so others can see what I am trying to get at.....We have a newer member that wanted to feed raw to his puppy. I do have experience in raw feeding and I like to think that I have a good grasp at feeding and nutrition to puppies and adult dogs, the problem is/was I am the only one who can help that person, and if I had someone else to hop on and reiterate what I said perhaps that person wouldn't come back on over and over again rephrasing the same question, where again and again I am the only one responding. That gets frustrating, would that new person continue coming on asking the same question if my name said subject mod? I don't know, probably, but having more than just me answering would certainly bring home the fact that this person wasn't feeding raw properly. I don't want to sound harsh to people, but it sometimes comes out that way, because I have no one to back me up.....it's not about who is doing what, I do believe some subject mods are needed, and another admin is needed. My biggest thing to anyone and everyone reading this, is please get involved!! Take 5 minutes a few times a week and help those of us that are on daily to answer a question that you have knowledge  on. We have a great search function, however we all know in general people want answers to their questions, interaction, personal experience.

Just wanted to add, part of the reason we have very few mods and admin is we wanted this group to be collaborative. We don't want mods/admin to be the only ones providing advice and answering threads. The role of the moderators is mostly to keep the peace and check up on the technical aspect of things. As far as advice goes, that's up to the community at large, not the staff

We added the subject mods probably about 4 or 5 years ago to provide "Authority" on a particular topic in times of need, but their word isn't and still isn't the be-all-end-all. We still expect and want the average joe forum member to provide advice and support.

@koda  Tori, I can understand limiting the size of 'staff' until - as has been said a few times - life happens.  I also have a forum which, thankfully given its subject matter, is very slow.  However, I have two asst admins who have complete access to the forum just in case 'life happens' up on me.  While I do have a half dozen moderators, each asst admin is also expected to be an active moderator as needed.

At the moment, again as has been noted, we have staff who are moving and getting settled in with new places / jobs, new family; in other words 'life' and the hiatus until they are able to be active again is not something, I think, that you can measure in days or weeks.

Since I'm retired, I'm on during the day probably as much as 'most anyone else.  If I'm going to report spam then it behooves you all to allow me to take care of it and the spammers - it's just quicker and has less impact on others who do have a life.  
In that same vein, since I do - at least at the moment and the foreseeable future - have time, then I can help with HOTM and, given the ability, could effect the changes that need to be made.

I am, emphatically, NOT volunteering to fill all those positions - even *I* do have some kind of life - but I am willing to assist.

It became apparent to me a month or so ago when I looked down the list of new posts and realized that there was a small group of people who seem to be answering most of the posts.  I, especially over the weekend, try to provide new members with some kind of response, even when it's "Sorry, *I* can't help and the forum is very slow over the weekend someone will be able to provide help on Monday" and I try to bump their message Monday and hope that someone will respond to them.

As I've said, here and in PM, tell me what you think I can do to help and I'll do what I can.  If that's to shut up and 'just be a forum member' - well, I can do that too.