Q. Where do the contest photos come from?
A. Anyone can submit a photo for consideration, as long as the photo is of a Terrier breed and meets our entry rules. Each photo is reviewed and chosen on the basis of quality, composition, and general interest.
We sometimes get hundreds of photos each month and can only choose
up to 12, so it may be several months before your photo appears in the contest even if accepted. Merely being a contestant is therefore quite a canine achievement!
Q. Who can vote during the contest?
A. Voting is open to everyone and no registration or membership is required. However, to keep the contest fair, we permit only one vote per visitor per day
(24 hours between votes). "Stuffing the ballot box" (trying to vote many times for your favorite) is prohibited and we regularly review the voting logs to prevent this sort of thing.
Q. Are there any prizes?
A. No, the contest is just for fun - it's not a professional photo competition and no prizes are awarded. The winning entries are posted to our Best of Show Winners page each month.
Q. How are votes counted?
A. Every attempt is made to ensure a fair vote. However, since supporters can enlist friends and family to vote it's not uncommon to see big changes in the tally from time to time. Some folks even solicit votes for their favorite photo on their blog, Facebook, other forums, or mailing lists, but please be reasonable in fairness to other contestants.
There are no judges and winning photos are chosen by popular vote only, and all contestants are subject to the same voting rules. In the rare event that someone has "stuffed" the ballot box by attacking our server or voting multiple times per day, this will show up in our server logs and we will deduct any illegal votes from the total. A contestant may be disqualified if there are continued attempts to unfairly influence the popular vote. Please abide by our rules as a courtesy to all the contestants.
Q. Why is my vote not being counted?
A. We use two methods to ensure that only
one vote per day per person is allowed. However, as with any public online poll, it's impossible to identify the person behind the keyboard. In rare cases, your vote could be blocked if the server thinks you have already voted.
We want your vote to count, so follow these tips before submitting your vote:
• Enable cookies on your computer. Check your browser's HELP menu for instructions if you see
a "Cookies Blocked" message when trying to vote.
• Avoid voting from a computer on a network behind a common router or firewall. While not intentionally excluded, votes from networked computers may sometimes get blocked or delayed (you can often just try again later).
• Avoid voting from behind a proxy server. Some ISP's route your connection though a proxy server along with many other visitors, which makes it impossible for the polling software to identify you (AOL in particular is notorious for this). Try using a different Internet provider or a mobile device when voting.
• Do not vote by clicking a link from another site such as Facebook. If you try to vote for a particular contestant by clicking on a direct vote link located on another website or email message, your vote may not be recorded. This helps prevent automated "bots" from spamming our contest.
• Vote just ONCE each day.
Wait at least 24 hours between each daily vote to be
sure your votes get added. This is necessary since we allow only one
vote per day from each visitor.
• Vote tally does not change after voting. For some visitors, the displayed vote tally may not change after
voting for a contestant even though your vote has actually been added - This is usually due to your browser or ISP
caching the previous results page instead of the updated vote numbers. Try forcing a page refresh, although this won't always update the actual tally in your browser window.
Q. What is the "Comments" section for on the contest page?
A. Visitors are welcome to post a short message of encouragement or cheer for their favorite contestant here. However, the comments section is moderated and we WILL NOT TOLERATE denigrating, offensive, or 'trash-talking' posts. Note that you must place a vote FIRST before a comment will be accepted.
Q. When does the monthly contest begin and end?
A. Voting ends on the last day of the month at around 12 noon (PST). Voting for a new contest begins immediately after closing the prior contest. Rarely we may skip a month if there are too few new entries.
Q. But I'll be disappointed if my photo (or favorite choice) doesn't win!
A. Remember, this is just a dog photo contest. It gives people from around the world a chance to enjoy great images from fellow terrier owners. Just being selected as a contestant (among hundreds of submissions) makes each photo a winner regardless of the final outcome. Have fun!
