General Character Guidelines

 All characters must be original. Fan-based characters are not allowed, so no “Balto the husky” or “Lady the cocker spaniel” running around! You may find inspiration from books, tv, movies, etc. but make sure your character is distinct in its own right, and not easily pegged as a copy, fan-child, etc. 

Your character may not have the same name as another character. Reserving names is not allowed, they are taken on a first-come-first-serve basis. However, if you know of another person planning to use a certain name, it is kind of rude to go make a character to quickly steal the name from under them. This behavior, while hard to track, is highly discouraged. 

In the world of Canidale, spay and neuter is MUCH less common than it is in real life. You do not have to have spayed or neutered your character unless you want to! Likewise, breeding rates are lower because these characters have been equipped with human emotions and minds. 

Only existing dog breeds or mixes are allowed. This means that DA or artist created breeds cannot be used within this group. However, should they be able to be passed off as a realistic mix of other breeds, you may note the group for approval to use them. 

Try to be realistic about the breed of your dog regardless of the faction it is in. For example, it is very unlikely for a expensive, rare, pure bred dog (like an irish wolfhound, caucasian shepherd dog, pharaoh hound, etc.)  to be a stray because these dogs likely would be with a human who carefully considered and curated the exact breed of dog they wanted to live with. It is LIKELY that a farm dog is a scent hound, shepherd, gun dog, or sometimes terrier breed, while being a toy dog or even sight hound would be unlikely unless they were a pet in the home of the farm. Pets faction could have any breed or mutt but once again, take their job into consideration when choosing your breed. A mutt can't be a conformation show dog, for example! If you are going to make your mutt a rare purebred, or make your farm dog a chihuahua or afghan hound, make sure that it is clear in their profile why/how they got to the place in life they are in. 

 Avoid creating characters that only have negative traits or positive traits. A well rounded character should have a mix of both qualities and flaws to its personality. Traits which are generally considered positive may also have negative connotations, and vice versa. Make sure your character’s personality is well rounded! 

Along with creating a well rounded personality, try to make a well rounded history. No character should have an all-tragedy-all-the-time backstory. Falling on hard times or having a difficult upbringing is of course possible, but don’t make your character go through hardships if they are not going to influence the way your character sees the world. 

Try not to go for too many of the same breed as other people. If you notice that there is already 3 or 4 of the same breed in the group already, consider trying to use a different breed. This is not a hard rule, but just something we encourage. We know huskies and border collies are popular, but there are hundreds of breeds and mixes to choose from, and we hope to create a large and diverse population of dogs! 

If you are planning on making multiple characters, consider having them be from different size brackets (small, medium, large, x-large) in order to keep the group diverse and interesting. We know large/x-large dogs are the most popular, but there are a lot of great qualities to smaller dogs as well! 

Get your character involved with the community, even if they are somewhat antisocial, they should still be able to interact and bond with a few characters around them. This group is meant to foster character relationships through RPing and collabs, so if you are only keeping to yourself, you aren’t taking advantage of all the group has to offer.