So this question has been posed to me before and I just realized that I failed to address it in an official post. I've been searching for it and couldn't find it. So here's my official sticky on what a treat is and how to use them!

What are treats?
So "Treats" are our version of reputation points. You can give someone treats or take them away. Since post count doesn't accurately reflect a person's knowledge set when it comes to dogs, we try to use treats as a way to help other members distinguish who has been around the block and knows his/her stuff.

When do you give treats?
-When someone says something that really helped you out.
-When someone writes a really informative post that you appreciate.
-When someone contributes positively to a discussion.

When do you take treats away?
-When someone breaks one of the Forum Rules (always displayed on the righthand sidebar of the forum).
-When someone contributes negatively to a discussion (meaning they resort to name-calling or attack another member).
-When someone posts incorrect or harmful information (Please be careful of using treats in this manner. We are ALL here to learn, but there are situations when it becomes clear that a member might be perpetuating misinformation without regard to actual facts. If the information is incorrect and the member makes NO attempt to correct him/herself, then it becomes appropriate to take away a treat for that post.)

What treats are NOT:
-Something to take away when someone posts a training method that differs from your own. (So long as a training method isn't dangerous, misleading or harmful, there is no reason to take away a treat. There is more than one way to do everything and our forum is about education and owners making the best decisions for themselves and their dogs.)
-Something to take away just because you disagree with someone's opinion. (There is a difference between an opinion and a fact. There will always be opinions that differ from our own. As long as the information is not WRONG, there is no reason to "take away treats" simply because someone does not agree with you. See Rule #1 of this forum.)
-Something to give to your friends. (They aren't population points. They are designed to help members know when they are appreciated and to help new members recognize knowledgeable members of the forum.)
-Something to give without reason. (If treats were given out willy-nilly, they would hold no purpose. We hope that they are helpful to others. If treats start to become meaningless, the staff will discuss deactivating them from the forum.

FAQs
1. Will someone know it was me who took away or gave a treat? NO. The treat process is completely anonymous unless you choose to make your choice public.
2. Can I undo giving a treat or taking one away? NO. This is why we take treats seriously. They are meant to HELP others, not to be used as a personal vendetta or a popularity contest. If you accidentally click the wrong treat or thought better of your actions, the only way to "right your wrong" is to give or take away a treat on a different post by the same member or by asking another forum member to reward or take away a treat for that same post. Even as the forum owner, I am not allowed to change someone's treat count. Please use them wisely.
3. How do I give or take away a treat?
To "give someone a treat" you must click the positive (+) sign on the righthand side of their post (notice that option is not available on any of your own posts).


To "take a treat away" you must click on the negative sign on the righthand side of their post:

4. How do I know that I gave a treat? When you give a positive treat, it will look like this:

When you give a negative treat it will look like this:

If one member gave a positive treat and another a negative treat, the post will look like this (the bar will be scaled one direction or the other if more negative/positive treats were given than the other):

One treat for a smart topic.

Bump for more exposure. High traffic today has knocked this off the latest topics widget and I just wan to make sure people know that this was posted Again, it's been something that has been asked of me several times. My apologies that I didn't get to it until now.

Oops. I was treating when stuff was knee slapping funny.

harrise wrote:

Oops. I was treating when stuff was knee slapping funny.

That's a common use too. I think that falls under "Contributes positively to the conversation." I do that once in a while too.

Bump for visibility. We've got a controversial thread with high traffic today, and there are a lot of negative treats flying around seemingly out of disagreement. Take a second to reread the sticky on treats, and keep this in mind:

Koda wrote:

What treats are NOT:
-Something to take away just because you disagree with someone's opinion. (There is a difference between an opinion and a fact. There will always be opinions that differ from our own. As long as the information is not WRONG, there is no reason to "take away treats" simply because someone does not agree with you. See Rule #1 of this forum.)

blueeyedghost wrote:

Bump for visibility. We've got a controversial thread with high traffic today, and there are a lot of negative treats flying around seemingly out of disagreement. Take a second to reread the sticky on treats, and keep this in mind:

Koda wrote:

What treats are NOT:
-Something to take away just because you disagree with someone's opinion. (There is a difference between an opinion and a fact. There will always be opinions that differ from our own. As long as the information is not WRONG, there is no reason to "take away treats" simply because someone does not agree with you. See Rule #1 of this forum.)

I lost 2 treats so far in that topic

Wow someone is having fun with the negative treat button. Brady is at a -3 and I lost another one...lol

Well now that I know how I can use it! Woohoo :p

-3 teehee. I was always wondering what those colored lines were.

I was wondering what that was earlier today as well lol

Please keep in mind that treats are not the Facebook equivalent to the "Like!" button

Ah, I get it now. Interesting characteristic this forum has. Jennet&Embry posted this after someone gave me a negative treat for opinion differentiation. I guess its bound to happen. Oh well I guess.

NICE, I was wondering what a "treat" was and how to get them. Thanks!!

I think people have been using the treat button as a "like" button recently.

That always happens unfortunately

So with the influx of new members I feel it is yet again a good time to reeducate as what a "treat" means and when it should be given, or taken away, from a member.

There have been a lot of treats flying around lately and I think we all need to remember that

Koda wrote:

Please keep in mind that treats are not the Facebook equivalent to the "Like!" button

So please take a little bit of time and read the OP that Tori placed to get a better understanding on it. Especially when to "Take away a treat".

Because seeing someone loose a treat for a conversation that was done and finished over 4 months ago is a bit much guys. Especially when the advice given was not an attack or harmful in nature, was not incorrect, and did not break any rules.

Awarding a treat for something you found helpful from months or years ago is fine, as good or helpful information should always be rewarded, but if you weren't part of the original discussion please refrain from taking them away because you don't "agree with the poster".



Nothing in the above post warranted a negative treat today, and this is just one example of the many currently going around (My apologies to the OP If you feel I singled you out).

So please take a moment to understand why and when we, as a community, ideally use treats.

Thank you.
~Chris~

I really feel like mobile phones are the reason for 30% of the frivilous treats. Its really difficult to hit your target when the page keeps reformatting and moving while everyones avatar and signature load up. Reallllllllly hardd. Like, have thrown my phone into the play yard out of sheer frustration at this site loading, hard.

Oh trust me I understand accidents happen. Especially with the mobile phones.

This is more a reminder to our newer members as it is pretty obvious that not all of the current treats are "mistakes", good or bad.

Mistakes will happen, I've miss clicked before too. I'm just reminding people to think about both up voting or down voting a bit more then like or dislike

~Chris~

I am so use to the negative treat thing and find it comical, but I do have to say it's funny someone is doing it in a post that was in response to you and you didn't get upset by it. some people may have heart attacks if they knew how I posted 2 years ago! But thanks for this, though I don't particularly care about treats and never notice them given or taken, it's constantly brought up when I post someone untreated me, lol.

Sad that this needs a bump after less than a week, but please go through the informational post that Tori took time to write up. Giving negative or positive treats just because you agree with somebody's opinion ISN'T what it's meant for. It's really not hard - if you have questions about it, I'm sure any of the mods would be more than happy to clear anything up.

We're adults here, please let's all start acting like it.

..yeah, everyone. You all need to stop giving me treatz. Ive received 2 treats this week, and most my contributions have been directly from the peanut gallery.. Start using them responsibly, these undue rewards are putting a lot of stress on me to keep being awesome.

Only 2? Hmmm - you're slipping...

It makes me sad that the treats aren't what they used to be, and I joined not that long ago.