Terms of Service

By accessing or using Armstrong K9 Registry (the “Registry”, “we”, “our”) you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the Registry.

1. Eligibility

• You must be at least 18 years old.
• You must not be located in, or a national of, a country subject to US embargoes (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, the Crimea region, Donetsk, Luhansk).
• You must not appear on any US Treasury OFAC sanctions list.

2. Your account

• You are responsible for the security of your account credentials.
• You may not impersonate another person, kennel, or registry.
• One account per person. Kennel staff sub-accounts are available on the Kennel Elite plan.
• We may suspend or terminate accounts for fraud, abuse, or repeated breaches of these terms.
• Admin support access. To resolve technical issues you report, an authorized Armstrong K9 Registry admin may either (a) view a read-only snapshot of your account or (b) briefly sign in as you for up to 60 minutes. Every “sign in as” session is audit-logged and you will receive an email plus in-app inbox notification identifying the admin and the time of access. Full details are in Section 5 of our Privacy Policy.

3. Marketplace — important disclaimers

The Registry hosts a marketplace where breeders list dogs for sale and buyers may purchase them. We are a venue, not the seller. Each dog is sold by the listing breeder, not by us.

• Livestock laws vary by state. Buyers and sellers are responsible for complying with their local laws on dog sales, including waiting periods, mandatory health certifications, micro-chipping, vaccination disclosure, and resale restrictions.
• Restricted breeds. Certain breeds are banned or regulated in jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and several US municipalities. The Registry surfaces a warning on listings for these breeds; buyers must verify legality in their location before purchasing.
• USDA APHIS. Buyers should verify USDA license status for any breeder selling more than four litters per year. The Registry does not certify USDA compliance.
• No dog fighting, attack-trained-for-humans, or breeding-to-kill language is permitted on listings or kennel bios. Listings violating this rule are removed and the posting account is suspended.

4. Escrow & Dispute Resolution

Marketplace dog purchases route through Stripe Connect with funds held by the Registry until pickup is confirmed. The “escrow” term is used for clarity; the Registry holds funds as a non-fiduciary intermediary, not as a trustee.

4.1 Auto-release

If neither buyer nor seller raises a dispute, funds are released to the seller (less the platform fee) 14 calendar days after payment.

4.2 Dispute resolution (mechanical, no admin discretion)

Disputes are governed by the venue-posture model published in the Refund Policy. Armstrong K9 Registry does not adjudicate the merits of any dispute. The platform administers a published timeline; the parties decide (via mutual consent) or the clock decides (via the published default outcome).

• Disputes can be raised within 14 calendar days of payment by either party.
• Outcomes execute only by (a) mutual written agreement of buyer and seller via the in-platform consent flow, or (b) the published 30-day mechanical default after dispute filing (full refund to buyer for marketplace dog purchases; tiered default for transport per §6.3).
• Individual sellers may publish refund extensions (longer windows) on a per-kennel basis under Refund Policy §8b. Sellers cannot publish “no refunds,” “final sale,” or any clause that shortens the 30-day floor or eliminates the buyer’s right to file a dispute. Such clauses are void on this platform.
• The Registry will not weigh evidence, render decisions, or mediate disputes between parties. Stripe chargebacks remain available as a parallel recourse and are assessed against the seller’s Stripe Connect account, not the Registry.

4.3 Buyer protections

• Non-delivery (dog not transferred within agreed window).
• Material misrepresentation (breed, health, registration status).
• Health-guarantee violations as set out in the listing’s structured guarantee block, when one is published.

4.4 Seller protections

• Buyer no-show or refusal to accept delivery after agreed window.
• Buyer claims unsupported by evidence after the dog has been delivered in good condition.

5. Pricing & payments

• All prices are shown in USD. Currency conversion is your card issuer’s responsibility.
• Subscriptions auto-renew at the displayed cycle (monthly or annual) until cancelled. You can cancel at any time from Billing.
• Refund eligibility is set out in our Refund Policy.

5a. Seller is the merchant of record · Tax responsibility

For every dog, litter, breeding service, or other item listed on the marketplace by a seller (a “Listing”):

• The seller — not the Registry — is the merchant of record for the underlying sale. The Registry operates as a payment-routing venue using Stripe Connect Express. Funds flow from the buyer through the platform escrow to the seller’s Stripe-managed account; the platform never holds beneficial ownership of the goods or revenue.
• Sales tax, use tax, and any other transaction-level taxes are the sole responsibility of the seller in their nexus state and any other jurisdiction where they have a tax obligation. The Registry does not calculate, collect, or remit such taxes on the seller’s behalf.
• 1099-K tax forms (US) are issued by Stripe directly to the seller’s Stripe Connect account when annual payout volume crosses the IRS threshold. The Registry is not a party to that filing.
• Income tax, self-employment tax, business-license fees, USDA APHIS license fees, and any equivalent obligations outside the United States are the seller’s responsibility.
• By creating a Listing, the seller affirmatively attests they are the merchant of record and assume sole responsibility for the tax obligations described in this section. This attestation is recorded in the Registry’s audit log at listing time.
• Marketplace facilitator laws. The Registry operates below the volume thresholds at which most US states impose marketplace-facilitator collection duties on a platform. To the extent a particular jurisdiction unambiguously and mandatorily imposes such duties on the Registry notwithstanding this Agreement, the Registry will comply with that local requirement and only that requirement; in all other cases the seller remains the sole tax-responsible party.
• The seller indemnifies the Registry, its officers, employees, and contractors against any tax liability, penalty, interest, or assessment arising from the seller’s failure to meet the obligations described in this section. See Section 12 for the general indemnification clause.

5b. The Dog Shop — marketplace facilitator role

The Registry offers subscription-gated breeder storefronts at /store/{slug} (collectively, “The Dog Shop” — formerly called “Kennel Storefronts”) where verified breeders (“Storefront Sellers”) sell dog food, treats, supplements, merch, and related goods directly to consumers. Storefront Sellers are independent third parties, not employees, agents, or partners of the Registry.

• Marketplace-facilitator role. The Registry provides the technology (page, catalog, checkout, payout routing) but is not the merchant, manufacturer, distributor, or shipper of any Storefront product. The Storefront Seller is the merchant of record for every sale.
• No warranty on Storefront goods. The Registry makes no representations or warranties — express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, ingredient accuracy, safety, freshness, or compliance with FDA, USDA, state-feed, or any other regulation — regarding any product listed on a Storefront. All such warranties (if any) flow solely between the Storefront Seller and the buyer.
• Payments. Storefront checkouts use Stripe Connect destination charges: buyers are charged on the platform’s Stripe account, the platform retains a 5% application fee, and the remaining funds are routed to the Storefront Seller’s connected Stripe account in the same transaction. The Registry does not custody Storefront funds and does not control payout timing — Stripe does.
• Delivery, returns, and customer support. Each Storefront Seller sets and enforces their own local-delivery zone, shipping policies, and customer-support channels. Refunds, returns, replacements, lost-package claims, allergic reactions, ingredient disputes, and any other product-quality issue are the sole responsibility of the Storefront Seller.
• Disputes and chargebacks. Storefront disputes and chargebacks are handled directly between the buyer, the Storefront Seller, and Stripe. The Registry is not a party to such disputes and will not mediate, indemnify, or otherwise be financially responsible for their outcome. The Registry’s escrow protections described in Section 4 apply only to peer-to-peer dog-sale transactions, not to Storefront purchases.
• Sales tax. The Storefront Seller is the seller of record for sales-tax purposes. The Registry uses Stripe Tax to calculate and collect sales tax on the Seller’s behalf at checkout and transfers it to the Seller’s Stripe Connect account along with the order total. The Seller remains solely responsible for remitting that tax to the appropriate authorities, for registering and maintaining nexus where required, for filing returns, and for handling any audit, refund, or mis-calculation dispute. The Registry is not a tax advisor or remittance agent.
• Prohibited Storefront products and services. Storefronts are limited to physical goods. Storefronts may not list or sell any dog-related service — including training (obedience, protection, behavior modification), boarding, daycare, grooming, dog walking, professional handling, or in-person consults — nor any of the following goods: human or veterinary prescription medications; live animals (use the dog marketplace); products containing CBD, hemp, kratom, or THC; raw or temperature- controlled meat shipped across state lines; any product requiring FDA, EPA, USDA, or DEA registration the seller does not hold; counterfeit, IP-infringing, or unauthorized brand merchandise; firearms, ammunition, training shock devices not legal in the seller’s state; or any other category prohibited by Stripe’s Restricted Businesses policy. Sellers offering services must operate through a separately- incorporated entity with its own general-liability and professional-liability coverage — the Registry will neither host nor process payment for those engagements.
• Storefront Seller Agreement. When a Seller claims a slug, they accept the separate Storefront Seller Agreement, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.
• Suspension and removal. The Registry may suspend, delist, or permanently remove any Storefront — with or without prior notice and in its sole discretion — for any violation of these Terms, the Storefront Seller Agreement, applicable law, the Stripe Restricted Businesses policy, or for repeated buyer complaints, chargebacks, or quality issues. Pending orders on a suspended Storefront are cancelled and refunded by the Seller in coordination with Stripe; the Registry will pause Stripe payouts to the affected account during suspension. Buyers’ order history remains visible to them for record-keeping.
• Featured rotation. The optional $29/month “Featured” slot is purely a promotional placement and does not confer any additional Registry endorsement, warranty, or quality guarantee of the Seller or their products.

5c. Acknowledgment for Storefront buyers

By placing an order on a Storefront page (/store/{slug}), you acknowledge and agree that:

• You are entering a contract with the Storefront Seller, not the Registry.
• The Registry is acting solely as a technology and payments facilitator and disclaims all responsibility for the product, its fitness for your animal, delivery, refunds, and any consequential harm (including illness, allergic reaction, injury, or property damage).
• You will direct any product, delivery, or refund issue to the Storefront Seller via the contact information shown on their Storefront page.
• You will not file a chargeback against the Registry for a Storefront transaction; chargebacks must be raised against the Storefront Seller through your card issuer.

5d. Upcoming Litter listings — venue role & waitlist deposits

Through the Upcoming Litters product (/marketplace/upcoming) breeders may publish planned breedings and expected litters before the puppies are born, and buyers may pay a deposit to reserve a spot on the breeder’s waitlist. The Registry’s role in these transactions is strictly that of a venue and a payments facilitator. By creating, viewing, or transacting on an Upcoming Litter listing you acknowledge and agree that:

• The Registry is NOT a party to the breeder’s sales contract, refund policy, health guarantee, or any other agreement between buyer and breeder. The Registry is not the breeder, buyer, guarantor, insurer, or legal counsel for either side.
• The contract is the breeder’s contract. Each breeder uploads their own sales contract, which they are solely responsible for drafting and having reviewed by their own attorney. The Registry does not draft, review, edit, or guarantee the content of any contract.
• Deposits flow directly to the breeder. Waitlist deposits are charged via Stripe Connect destination charges and settle directly into the breeder’s Stripe Connect account. The breeder is the merchant of record for the deposit. The Registry takes a platform fee (5%, capped at $25 per deposit) at the time of charge.
• Refund policy is the breeder’s. Each listing displays the breeder’s own refund policy verbatim. That policy is the controlling agreement between buyer and breeder. The Registry never auto-refunds a deposit; the “Request refund” button notifies the breeder but does not move money.
• Chargebacks land on the breeder. Any Stripe dispute on a deposit is assessed against the breeder’s Stripe Connect account, not the Registry. The buyer’s recourse for an unresolved deposit dispute is a Stripe dispute against the breeder (their merchant), not a chargeback against the Registry.
• Mandatory click-wrap acknowledgments. Both breeder and buyer must acknowledge a venue-disclaimer click-wrap (with name, IP, and timestamp captured in the audit log) before publishing a listing, paying a deposit, and signing the contract.
• 8-week minimum age rule. The earliest go-home date on every Upcoming Litter is automatically set to 56 days after the recorded whelp date. The Registry enforces this floor for marketplace listings and escrow checkouts that flow through its platform.

5e. Armstrong Transport marketplace — independent transporters

The Armstrong Transport marketplace is a listing service connecting buyers with independent, USDA-licensed third-party transporters via a bidding engine and Stripe-Connect-backed escrow. This section governs the relationship between the Registry, the transporter, and the buyer for any trip booked through /transport. The Registry is the marketplace operator, not the carrier — every trip is operated by an independent transporter under their own USDA license and commercial insurance.

• Verification floor. Every transporter listed in the public directory must (a) hold a current USDA Class B transport license, (b) carry a minimum of $300,000 in commercial-auto liability with proof on file, and (c) complete Stripe Connect Express onboarding with payouts enabled. The Registry reverifies insurance status quarterly.
• Bidding & buyer choice. Buyers submit a route and the request is fanned out to every active transporter whose service-area-states cover either endpoint. Transporters submit bids; the buyer selects the winning bid and pays via Stripe. The Registry takes a flat 10% platform fee on every completed trip.
• Escrow & auto-release. Buyer funds are held in Stripe escrow via a destination charge to the transporter’s Connect account. Escrow auto-releases to the transporter 48 hours after the transporter marks the trip “delivered,” unless the buyer confirms earlier, opens a dispute, or the transporter has an active delay flag on the order.
• Cancellations & disputes. Refund tiers, transporter-side cancellation rules, the dispute mediation process, and delay-flag behavior are governed by Section 9 of the Refund Policy. Both parties accept those terms by booking or accepting a trip.
• Strike system. Transporters who cancel with less than 12 hours of notice (or where the Registry cannot rebook the trip with another verified transporter) receive one strike. Three strikes within a rolling 90-day window result in a 30-day suspension under the Transporter Agreement. The Registry may also issue strikes for repeated late deliveries, undisclosed subcontracting, or insurance lapses.
• Independent contractor relationship. Transporters are independent contractors operating their own ground transport businesses. They are not employees, agents, or partners of the Registry. The Registry is solely a technology platform and escrow facilitator. The Registry does not select routes, set prices, supervise driving, or warrant the condition of the transporter’s vehicle. All transportation services are provided by the transporter under their own USDA license and commercial insurance.
• Sales & use tax. Transport services are generally not subject to sales tax in most U.S. jurisdictions, but where applicable, the transporter — not the Registry — is the merchant of record and is solely responsible for collecting and remitting any tax due. The buyer pays the bid amount as quoted; no additional tax is collected by the Registry.
• Animal handling. Transporters agree to follow USDA Animal Welfare Act minimum standards for ground transport (rest stops every 4–6 hours, climate control, secure crates, documented water access). Reported failures to meet these standards trigger dispute escalation.
• Acknowledgment. By submitting a transport request or accepting a bid invitation, both buyer and transporter acknowledge they have read and accept this Section 5d and Section 9 of the Refund Policy.

5f. Service-provider bookings (trainers, groomers, walkers, sitters) — independent businesses; customer due diligence

Armstrong K9 Registry lists independent service providers — dog trainers, groomers, walkers, and sitters — so Customers can find, book, and pay them through the Platform. This section governs the relationship between the Registry, the Provider, and the Customer for any booking made through the directory or any provider profile. The Registry is the marketplace operator only. Every service is performed by an independent third-party business under their own license, insurance, certifications, and operating standards — not by Armstrong K9 Registry.

• You contract directly with the Provider. When you book a trainer, groomer, walker, or sitter, you are entering a service contract directly with that Provider. Armstrong is not a party to that contract, does not perform the service, does not supervise its performance, and does not adjudicate disputes between you and the Provider on the merits. Armstrong administers the booking record, the messaging thread, the Stripe-Connect escrow rails, and the published Refund-Policy timer — that is the full scope of our role.
• Customer due diligence is your responsibility. Armstrong does not verify, audit, certify, screen, or warrant any Provider’s skill, training methods, handling practices, business license, insurance, criminal history, immigration status, vaccinations, vehicle condition, home conditions, or compliance with any state, county, or city law. Every Provider self-attests to operating as an independent business and self-answers a short licensing checklist at signup; the answers are the Provider’s representations, not Armstrong’s verifications. Before you book, you are expected to review the Provider’s profile, photos, reviews, displayed certifications, claimed insurance, refund and cancellation policies, intake-form requirements, and any other public information — and to ask the Provider directly any questions material to your decision. Optional background-check badges (where displayed) are sold by third-party vendors and are informational only; their presence is not Armstrong’s endorsement and their absence is not Armstrong’s disqualification.
• You book at your own risk. Dog care inherently carries risk — bites, scratches, allergic reactions to grooming products, behavior regression during training, escape during walks, injury or illness during overnight sits, property damage, and other harms can occur even with a careful Provider. By booking a service through the Platform, you accept that risk and you accept that any resulting claim is between you and the Provider (and the Provider’s insurer, if any) — not between you and Armstrong. Armstrong has no duty to inspect, supervise, or rescue any animal during a booking, and assumes no such duty by providing the booking platform.
• Per-booking venue acknowledgment. Every service booking requires you to check a box affirming you understand Armstrong’s venue-only role and that you are contracting directly with the Provider. The Platform records your IP, timestamp, and the version of these Terms in force at the moment of acceptance. You may not complete a booking without that acknowledgment.
• Recommended Provider practices are not Armstrong requirements. Armstrong recommends that every Provider carry general-liability and animal-bailee insurance, a pet-first-aid certification, a third-party background check, and a written intake form covering vaccinations, medical conditions, and emergency-veterinary authorization. Armstrong does not require any of those items. Their presence or absence on a Provider profile is informational only and does not shift any duty to Armstrong.
• Escrow, refunds, and disputes. Service bookings are paid through Stripe Connect destination charges with platform-held escrow. Funds release to the Provider on your “confirm completed” click or on the auto-release deadline, whichever is earlier. Cancellation windows, no-show rules, refund tiers, and the dispute-resolution timer follow the published Refund Policy in force at the time of booking. Disputes resolve either by mutual written consent between you and the Provider or, if no consent is reached within the default window, by the mechanical default stated in the Refund Policy. Armstrong administers the timer; Armstrong does not adjudicate the merits. Stripe chargebacks remain available as a parallel recourse under Stripe’s own rules.
• Possession transfers to the Provider during the booking. When a Provider takes physical possession of your dog (every walk, every sit, most in-home trainings, most groomings), that Provider is solely responsible for your dog’s safety during the booking. Live walk GPS, where offered, is a passive sharing tool described in Section 5d-bis; it is not a supervision service and Armstrong does not monitor it.
• Ratings, reviews, and Provider responses are user-generated content. Armstrong does not adjudicate review accuracy. We remove reviews only where they violate the published Community & Content rules (illegal content, threats, doxxing, etc.). Provider replies are limited to one written response per review.
• No employment, agency, or partnership relationship exists between Armstrong and any Provider. Every Provider operates their own independent business, sets their own prices and schedule, carries their own taxes and licenses, and accepts or declines bookings on their own judgment. Any claim asserting Armstrong is the Provider’s employer, agent, principal, partner, joint venturer, or representative is contradicted by the Provider’s written acknowledgment in the Service Provider Agreement and by this Section.
• Armstrong’s liability for Provider conduct is zero. Subject only to Section 11 of these Terms and to any non-waivable consumer-protection law in your jurisdiction, Armstrong is not liable for any injury, illness, escape, bite, behavior regression, allergic reaction, death, theft, property damage, financial loss, emotional distress, or other harm arising out of any service booked through the Platform. Your remedy for any such harm is against the Provider directly (and the Provider’s insurer, if any). The Provider has contractually agreed to indemnify Armstrong for any such claim under the Service Provider Agreement.
• Acknowledgment. By creating a booking through any service-provider profile or directory listing, you acknowledge you have read and accept this Section 5f, the per-booking venue acknowledgment described above, and the booking cancellation and dispute provisions of the Refund Policy in force at the time.

5f-bis. Provider ↔ Client direct messaging — acceptable-use & moderation

The in-app messaging surface between service providers and clients (the "Provider Messaging Channel") is provided to keep service-delivery details on-platform. Use of the channel is subject to these rules:

• Acceptable use. You will not use the Provider Messaging Channel to send (i) illegal content, (ii) sexually explicit material, (iii) harassment, threats, hate speech, or discriminatory remarks, (iv) fraudulent solicitations, phishing links, or malware, (v) bulk advertising or spam, or (vi) any attempt to circumvent Armstrong’s escrow, refund, or dispute-resolution flows.
• Venue role; no editorial review. Armstrong K9 Registry is a venue. We do not pre-screen messages and we make no representation about the truth, accuracy, or quality of anything communicated through the channel. We do, however, reserve the right (but not the obligation) to: (a) quarantine a thread that has been reported via the in-app report flow, (b) remove specific messages or attachments that violate this section, (c) suspend the sending or receiving account in serious cases, and (d) preserve threads connected to an open dispute or a valid legal demand. We do not edit message bodies; enforcement is deletion-of-message-only.
• Contact-info detection. When you compose a message, the Registry performs a local-only regular- expression scan that flags US-format phone numbers and email addresses, and shows you a soft warning encouraging you to keep the conversation on the platform. The warning is informational and does not block you from sending. The presence of contact info shared in a message does not, by itself, violate these Terms.
• Off-platform contact is at your own risk. If you choose to share contact information and continue a conversation off Armstrong, the Registry cannot assist with disputes, cancellations, refunds, or safety incidents relating to anything arranged through that off-platform channel. Keeping conversations in-app preserves your paper trail.
• No professional advice. Messages exchanged with a service provider are between you and that independent business. Armstrong does not endorse, vet, or warrant any veterinary, training, dietary, behavioral, or legal advice provided by a service provider via the channel. If a provider’s message recommends a medication, surgery, treatment, or other intervention, confirm with a licensed veterinarian before acting.
• Storage & retention. Messages, photo attachments, and system events are stored, retained, and purged per the schedule published in our Privacy Policy §2.4a.

5f-ter. Trainer Learning — live video sessions & pre-recorded courses

Approved Trainer and Behaviorist providers may offer two paid learning products through the Platform: (a) live 1-on-1 video training sessions delivered through Armstrong’s Daily.co-powered video rooms; and (b) pre-recorded video courses sold as a flat-fee one-time purchase, included with the Buyer Pass, or both. This section governs the rights and responsibilities of the Trainer, the Customer, and the Registry for any such purchase.

• Independent service relationship. Live sessions and pre-recorded courses are delivered by the independent Trainer, not by Armstrong K9 Registry. Armstrong provides the booking system, the Daily.co room provisioning, the Stripe-Connect payment rails, the lesson hosting, and the Customer ↔ Trainer message thread — that is the full scope of our role. Section 5f (independent-business, venue-only, customer-due-diligence, at-your-own-risk) applies to every Trainer-Learning purchase in addition to the rules in this Section 5f-ter.
• Live sessions — pricing & payout. Trainers publish up to three packaged tiers (e.g. 1-session, 5-pack, 10-pack) and a weekly availability map. Customers book a tier at a specific time slot; payment is captured immediately via Stripe Connect destination charge. Funds are routed to the Trainer’s connected Stripe Express account net of the platform fee defined below. Payouts follow Stripe’s standard schedule for the Trainer’s account. The Trainer is solely responsible for completing Stripe Connect onboarding (KYC, bank verification, tax identification) and for any taxes owed on session revenue; Stripe issues the Trainer’s 1099-K directly from the Trainer’s Express dashboard. Armstrong does not file 1099s on behalf of Trainers.
• Pre-recorded courses — pricing & payout. Trainers may sell courses on a flat-fee basis (buyer owns lifetime access), a Buyer-Pass-included basis (buyer watches at no incremental cost; Trainer earns $0.40 royalty per qualifying ≥30-second lesson watch), or both. Flat-fee purchases settle the same way as live sessions (Stripe Connect destination charge, platform fee skimmed, balance to the Trainer’s connected account). Buyer-Pass royalty pools are calculated monthly and paid out via the same connected account.
• Platform fee (both products). Armstrong retains a tiered platform fee on every Trainer-Learning transaction: 20% on the first $5,000 of trailing-12-month Trainer-Learning gross per Trainer, then 10% thereafter. The fee is calculated and disclosed inside Stripe’sapplication_fee_amount on every charge and is visible to the Trainer inside their Express dashboard. The fee is independent of and additional to Stripe’s own processing fees, which Stripe deducts before settlement.
• Recording & replay (live sessions). The Daily.co room is auto-configured to record the session. The replay URL is shared with both the Trainer and the Customer and remains accessible for 30 days from the end of the session, after which it is permanently deleted. Customers consent to being recorded by joining the room; Trainers consent by enabling their offering. Either party may end the recording mid-session from inside Daily.co’s controls. Recordings are not used for any purpose other than buyer/Trainer replay and dispute resolution; they are not training data, are not shared with third parties, and are deleted on schedule.
• No medical, veterinary, or behaviorist advice. Training-session content and course content are educational and behavioural in nature. They are not veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and they do not establish a veterinarian-patient relationship. Customers should consult a licensed veterinarian for any medical concern. Trainers may not represent themselves as veterinarians, may not prescribe medications or veterinary treatments, and may not promise specific behavioural outcomes.
• Cancellation & refunds (live sessions). Each Trainer publishes a cancellation window (default 24 hours). A Customer who cancels at least the published window before the scheduled start receives a full refund. Inside the window, the Trainer’s published policy applies; in the absence of a published policy, the booking is non-refundable but may be rescheduled at the Trainer’s discretion. No-shows by the Customer forfeit the session. No-shows by the Trainer entitle the Customer to a full refund or a free reschedule, at the Customer’s option.
• Refunds (courses). Flat-fee course purchases are eligible for a full refund within 14 days only if fewer than 30% of lesson minutes have been watched, as measured by the platform’s lesson-watch counter. After 14 days or after the 30% threshold, course purchases are final. Buyer-Pass-included courses follow the underlying Buyer-Pass refund schedule; cancelling the Buyer Pass ends access to Buyer-Pass-included courses but does not refund the purchase price of any flat-fee course already bought separately.
• Content ownership & license. Trainers retain ownership of all course content and live-session recordings they author. By publishing a course or running a live session through the Platform, the Trainer grants Armstrong a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, stream, transcode, cache, back up, and deliver the content to authorized Customers for the duration the course remains published (or the 30-day replay window for live sessions). Armstrong does not claim ownership, does not remarket the content, and does not use Trainer content to train any model. Customers receive a personal, non-transferable, non-commercial license to watch purchased content; redistribution, public performance, derivative works, or downloading-for-resale are prohibited and may result in account termination.
• Trainer warranties. By publishing a course or running a session, the Trainer warrants that: (a) the content is original or properly licensed; (b) no third-party copyright, trademark, right of publicity, or other right is infringed; (c) all minors, third parties, and identifiable dogs depicted have given (or for minors, had a guardian give) consent to appear; (d) the Trainer holds any state, county, or city licenses required to deliver dog-training services in the jurisdictions in which they operate; and (e) the content complies with Section 8 (Acceptable Use) of these Terms. Armstrong removes content that violates these warranties on notice and reserves the right to suspend an offending Trainer’s account.
• Disputes. Disputes over a live session (no-show, technical failure, content quality) or a course purchase (advertised vs. delivered, lesson accessibility, refund eligibility) are resolved first by direct conversation in the Customer ↔ Trainer message thread, and failing that by the mechanical default rules in this Section 5f-ter and in the published Refund Policy. Armstrong administers the timer and the refund mechanics; Armstrong does not adjudicate the merits. Stripe chargebacks remain available as a parallel recourse.
• Armstrong liability is zero. Subject only to Section 11 of these Terms and any non-waivable consumer-protection law, Armstrong is not liable for: the quality, accuracy, or effectiveness of any session or course; any injury, regression, escape, bite, illness, or property damage occurring during or after a Trainer-Learning purchase; any outage of the Daily.co video infrastructure or the lesson-hosting infrastructure; or any tax, licensing, or professional-regulation consequence to the Trainer. The Trainer indemnifies Armstrong for any such claim under the Service Provider Agreement.
• Acknowledgment. By booking a live session or purchasing a course, the Customer acknowledges they have read and accept this Section 5f-ter, Section 5f (venue role), and the refund and recording provisions above.

5d-bis. Live walk GPS tracking — optional, in-app only, walker-initiated

Service providers who walk or sit your dog may, with your prior consent on the booking, share a live location map during the active session. The Registry’s role with respect to this feature is strictly limited:

• Walker initiates. The provider voluntarily enables sharing at the start of each walk. The owner cannot force a provider to share location. Providers without GPS or who decline to share are not penalized in ranking.
• Bilateral consent. Both parties must opt in before any location data is transmitted: the owner enables it on the booking, and the provider initiates sharing for that specific walk. Either party may revoke at any moment from inside the app.
• In-app only. There is no public, no-login share link. The owner views the live map exclusively inside their authenticated /my-bookings page. Location data never traverses email, SMS, or any out-of-band channel.
• No long-term storage. The Registry does NOT retain the full route. When the walk ends or is revoked, the raw GPS points are immediately discarded and replaced with a 24-hour summary (distance, duration, approximate start and end locations, snapped to roughly the nearest 110 metres for home-address obfuscation). After 24 hours the entire record is permanently deleted.
• No emergency or safety guarantees. The Registry transmits location data as a courtesy between consenting parties. It does NOT monitor walks, alert anyone if the walker stops moving, alert anyone if the walker leaves a geofence, verify the route, or guarantee accuracy or continuity of the GPS signal. The feature is a dumb pipe between two consenting users; it is not a safety system.
• Provider independence preserved. Nothing in this feature alters the independent-contractor status of any provider. The Registry does not direct, supervise, monitor, schedule, or control any walk. Providers are not employees of the Registry and are free to walk without enabling sharing.
• You assume the risk. By enabling live walk tracking, both the owner and the provider acknowledge that the Registry is a venue and that any reliance on the live location signal is at the user’s own risk. The Registry disclaims any duty to monitor, intervene, or otherwise act on location data exchanged through this feature.

5e. Calendar predictions, gestation estimates & reminder notifications

The Registry includes a personal calendar that displays user-entered events alongside automatically derived events (heat-cycle dates, breeding-to-whelping projections, transport pickups, video-tour bookings, dog birthdays). Some of these are statistical estimates, not guarantees.

• Predicted whelp dates are calculated as breeding date + 63 days, the average canine gestation. Actual gestation ranges from approximately 58 to 68 days and varies by breed, dam, and individual pregnancy. The Registry, its operators, and its officers are not responsible for the accuracy of any predicted whelp date and make no warranty, express or implied, that puppies will be born on or near the predicted date.
• Predicted next-heat dates are calculated as most-recent-recorded-heat + 180 days, the rough average heat interval. Actual heat cycles vary widely by breed and individual. We make no warranty as to accuracy.
• Tentative events are clearly labeled in italics with a “Tentative” badge and an in-app disclaimer at creation time. You acknowledge that these are estimates only and that any decision you make in reliance on them — including, without limitation, scheduling travel, accepting buyer deposits, booking veterinary appointments, or making other commitments — is at your sole risk.
• Confirm with a licensed veterinarian. For any breeding decision the Registry recommends ultrasound or progesterone testing performed by a licensed veterinarian. The Registry’s calendar features are not veterinary advice and are not a substitute for professional veterinary care.
• Reminder notifications are best-effort. The Registry may send web push notifications approximately 24 hours before scheduled events to devices you have enrolled. Delivery depends on browser availability, network conditions, operating system push services (Apple Push, FCM, Mozilla autopush), and your device’s battery and notification settings. We do not guarantee delivery and recommend you do not rely on these notifications as your sole reminder for time-critical events.

Editorial content — Journal, puppy school, and lifecycle emails

The Registry publishes long-form editorial content in the public Journal at /journal and delivers a multi-day first-puppy school drip course by email (days 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, and 30 after a dog transfer). The Registry also sends annual and one-time lifecycle emails about dogs you own (birthday, Gotcha Day anniversary, 30-day buyer check-in).

• Educational only. All editorial and lifecycle content is general information for adult dog owners and prospective buyers. It is not veterinary, legal, tax, training, or financial advice and is not a substitute for consultation with a licensed professional.
• No professional relationship. Reading or receiving this content does not create a veterinarian-client, attorney-client, accountant-client, or trainer-client relationship between you and Armstrong K9 Registry, its editorial team, or any third party referenced therein.
• Health, breeding, and emergency decisions — including but not limited to vaccination schedules, medication dosing, diagnosis or treatment of any condition, dietary changes, anesthetic events, or breeding decisions — must be made in consultation with a licensed veterinarian familiar with your specific dog. The Registry disclaims any responsibility for outcomes arising from decisions made in reliance on Journal or puppy-school content.
• Trademark policy. The Registry does not reference, claim affiliation with, or operate under the name of any third-party kennel club or registry. All editorial standards described in the Journal reflect this platform’s internal verification process and are not industry-wide standards.
• Featured kennels, breeders, and buyers appearing in editorial content do so with their consent. Photos and quotes are used with permission and may be retracted on request by emailing the editorial team.
• Lifecycle email opt-out. Every lifecycle email contains a one-click unsubscribe link compliant with CAN-SPAM Section 5(a)(3). You may also manage these emails from Settings → Notifications (global) or each dog’s Ownership tab (per-dog). Transactional emails required to operate the service (purchases, password resets, transfer requests, certificate delivery) cannot be unsubscribed from.
• Day-30 review nudge. The 30-day buyer check-in email invites you to leave a verified review of the breeder you purchased from. Reviews are voluntary and never incentivized; the Registry does not filter or remove reviews based on sentiment. If you believe a transaction went poorly, you may instead contact our Trust & Safety team and we will investigate.

5f. AI-assisted features & AI-generated content

Certain admin-facing and user-facing features use third-party large language models (LLMs) — currently Anthropic’s Claude — to generate text on demand. These include the AI marketing-pack generator (admin only), the kennel-bio assistant, and any other feature labeled “AI” or “AI-generated.”

• Output is probabilistic, not authoritative. AI- generated text may contain factual errors, omissions, or invented details. You are responsible for reviewing any AI-generated content before publishing it under your name or using it in contracts, listings, or public communications.
• Where prompts go. When you trigger an AI feature we send the prompt and any context required to fulfill it (e.g., live platform statistics for the marketing generator, your kennel description for the bio assistant) to the LLM provider. We do not send other users’ personal data to the LLM unless you explicitly include it in your prompt. The LLM provider’s data-handling terms apply; see the Sub-processors page for the current list and DPA links.
• No training on your content. Our LLM access is configured so that prompts and outputs are not retained for model-training purposes by the provider. If a provider’s terms ever change, we will update the Sub-processors page and notify you before any retention change takes effect.
• You own AI-generated outputs you keep. Subject to the LLM provider’s terms, content the AI generates for you becomes part of your account content under Section 7. You may edit, publish, or discard it as you choose.

5g. Referral program

Every registered user can generate a unique referral code from the Share my kennel page. Anyone who creates an account using that code via ?ref=CODE in the signup URL is attributed to the referrer for analytics, leaderboard, and any future credit-issuance purposes.

• Referral codes are personal to the issuing account; sharing or selling codes for compensation is prohibited and may result in code revocation.
• Self-referrals (signing up via your own code, alt accounts, household-sharing) do not count and may result in attribution being voided.
• The Registry reserves the right to revoke codes, void attributions, or close accounts engaged in fraudulent referral activity (e.g. fake signups, click-farming, paid sign-up schemes).
• Referral credit, where offered, has no cash value and cannot be transferred, sold, or combined with other promotional offers unless explicitly stated.
• The Registry may modify or end the referral program at any time with reasonable notice; accrued credit will be honored for 90 days after such notice.

6. Acceptable use

• No illegal activity, harassment, doxxing, or threats.
• No deceptive listings or pedigree fraud.
• No scraping, bulk-extraction, or automated posting beyond rate limits.
• No content promoting cruelty, dog-fighting, or breeding/training for aggression toward humans. For clarity, the following are permitted: footage of sanctioned canine sport & working trials (IPO/IGP, Schutzhund, PSA, Mondio Ring, French Ring, KNPV), AKC- or UKC-style working trials, hunt tests, retrieves, agility, dock-diving, herding, obedience, conformation movement, and similar sport disciplines, provided the work is sanctioned, handler-led, and depicts no cruelty or animal in distress. The following are prohibited: dog-fighting (depicting or promoting), untitled “guard dog / personal protection dog” advertising, prong/e-collar at illegal intensities, minors used as decoys without a visible guardian, or content depicting any activity illegal in the seller’s jurisdiction.
• No reverse-engineering of the Registry, our payment integration, or admin tooling.

7. Content ownership

• You retain ownership of content you upload.
• You grant the Registry a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to display, reproduce, and distribute it in connection with operating the platform — including SEO surfaces, social-share previews, and search results.
• The Registry brand, layout, code, and database structure are owned by Armstrong K9 Registry and protected by copyright.

7a. User-generated content · review responses · hero video · kennel placement

• Right-of-reply on reviews. Verified buyer reviews may be responded to once by the reviewed kennel. You are solely responsible for the content of your response. The Registry is a neutral host and does not endorse the content of any review or response. We may remove a response that contains defamation, threats, harassment, personal identifying information about the reviewer, or any other Acceptable-Use violation. Responses are subject to the same Trust & Safety reporting flow as any other content.
• Hero video (Kennel Elite). By uploading a hero video to your public kennel page you represent and warrant that you own or have all necessary rights to the video, audio, and any identifying likeness depicted, and that the content complies with all applicable laws and the Acceptable-Use policy. You grant the Registry the licence described in §7 for that video. The Registry may remove a hero video that uses copyrighted music without licence, depicts people who have not consented, or otherwise violates these terms. DMCA takedowns are handled per §8.
• Working / sport video on dog profiles. The Registry lets verified sellers attach up to three (3) short video clips to each individual dog profile so buyers can see drive, structure, or conformation movement before committing to a litter. By uploading a video to a dog profile, you additionally represent and warrant that:
  • the video depicts sanctioned canine sport or training as described in §6 (or routine handling such as free-stacking, gaiting, or daily-life behavior) and doesnot depict cruelty, dog-fighting, untitled “guard dog / personal protection” work for sale, an animal in distress, or any activity illegal in the jurisdiction in which the footage was recorded;
  • any identifiable person in frame — including any minor decoy, helper, judge, or family member — has consented (or a guardian has consented on behalf of a minor) to the use of their likeness on this public listing;
  • you have all rights to the underlying music, voice-over, and footage, and the upload does not infringe any copyright, trademark, right of publicity, or other right.
  Platform shield. The display of a working / sport video on a dog profile is not a representation by Armstrong K9 Registry as to the depicted dog’s training, certifications, titles, temperament, health, or suitability for any purpose. We do not lab-test, score, certify, or otherwise verify the conduct depicted. We do not assess whether the dog is safe with children, other animals, or in any home or working environment. The seller is solely responsible for the accuracy of any claim implied by the footage and for the use a buyer makes of the depicted animal. Inquiries, deposits, contracts, and any post-sale conduct remain governed by §4 (marketplace neutrality) and §5e/5f (provider liability shield). The Registry may remove a working video on a good-faith report of any Acceptable-Use violation, may require an attestation at upload time, and may suspend a seller account for repeat violations. DMCA takedowns are handled per §8.
• Kennel directory placement. The Registry curates the /kennels directory and selects a Featured kennel slot at its sole discretion. Featured placement is not guaranteed by any subscription tier and may rotate, be suspended, or be removed at any time. Sort order, search ranking, and the Featured rotation are not commitments included in any paid plan.
• DNA-Verified badge. The DNA-Verified badge means an Armstrong K9 Registry administrator reviewed a third-party DNA panel report you submitted and found the parentage claim consistent with that report. We do not lab-test your dog. We are not a genetics laboratory and we make no representation as to the accuracy of the underlying lab's methodology or results. Refunding the verification fee revokes the badge.

8. DMCA / copyright takedown

To file a DMCA notice, email dmca@armstrongk9registry.com with the work allegedly infringed, the URL of the infringing listing, your physical address, a good-faith statement, and a signature. Counter-notices may be sent to the same address. Repeat infringers will be terminated.

9. Termination

• You may deactivate your account at any time from Settings.
• We may suspend or terminate your account for breach of these terms, fraud, or by operation of law.
• On termination: paid-but-unused balances are refunded per the Refund Policy. Public records you contributed (pedigree links) may remain visible because they are part of the shared registry.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

The Registry is provided “as is” without warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not guarantee uninterrupted service or error-free operation. We are not the breeder of any listed dog and make no warranties about the health, temperament, or pedigree accuracy of any dog listed by a third party.

11. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim related to the Registry is limited to the greater of $100 or the fees you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages.

12. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Registry from any claim arising out of (a) your content, (b) your sale or purchase of a dog through our marketplace, (c) your breach of these terms, or (d) your violation of any law or third-party right.

13. Governing law & arbitration

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States. Disputes that are not resolved through good-faith negotiation will be settled by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, with the seat of arbitration in Shasta County, California, United States. The arbitrator will decide all issues.

Class action waiver. You and we waive the right to bring claims as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative action. If this waiver is held unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim must be brought in court (the rest of this section still applies).

30-day opt-out. You may opt out of arbitration by emailing legal@armstrongk9registry.com within 30 days of first agreeing to these terms with the subject line “Arbitration opt-out”.

14. Changes

We will give at least 30 days’ notice (in-app banner + email) before material changes take effect. Continued use of the Registry after the effective date means you accept the updated terms.

15. Contact

Legal notices: legal@armstrongk9registry.com
General support: support@armstrongk9registry.com