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
9 or 10, 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.
There are no judges and winning photos are chosen by popular vote only. In the rare event that someone has "spammed" the ballot box, 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 online poll, it's impossible to identify the person behind the keyboard. In some instances, your vote may 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).
• 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.
• Refresh the Contest Results
page. Sometimes the displayed vote tally won't change after
you vote for a contestant - this can be due to your browser or ISP
caching the original contest page, and your vote actually HAS BEEN
ADDED. Try refreshing the page, although this won't always work.
If you're still unable to enter your vote, you can email us with your choice and we'll manually enter your vote
(be sure to specify your choice and the time you tried to vote so we can
check our vote logs).
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 or offensive 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!
