Terms of Service

Language: English | Français

Effective date: July 22, 2026

1. Who we are and what these Terms cover

These Terms are an agreement between you and 1001635490 Ontario Inc., a corporation organized under the laws of Ontario, carrying on business as PuppyGenes ("PuppyGenes," "we," "us," or "our"). Our business address is 539 Barry Drive, Pickering, Ontario L1V 5M4. You may contact us at 416-315-6352 or support@puppygenes.com.

These Terms govern your PuppyGenes account, kit activation, submission and analysis of a dog cheek-swab sample, genetic reports, our website and dashboard, and the optional Genie AI feature (together, the "Service"). "Your dog" means a dog you own or are authorized by its owner to test.

If you purchased a kit through Amazon.ca or another marketplace, the seller of record shown on your order is responsible for the retail sale, payment, shipment, and marketplace-administered return or refund, subject to applicable law. These Terms separately govern the Service provided by PuppyGenes after purchase. Purchasing or receiving a kit, or merely visiting our website, does not by itself constitute acceptance of these Terms. Nothing in these Terms reduces a product or Service promise, disclosure, or mandatory right that formed part of your retail order.

At launch, PuppyGenes-branded kits are offered on Amazon.ca by 1001635490 Ontario Inc., where that corporation is identified as the seller in the Amazon order. Amazon administers the marketplace checkout and Prime return/refund workflow. If the seller shown in a particular order differs, that displayed seller identity controls the retail-sale allocation for that order.

Before activating a kit or submitting a sample, you will be able to review, save, and print these Terms and our Refund Policy and will be asked to affirmatively agree to them. We record the version, language, date, and method of acceptance. If you do not agree, do not submit a sample. You may return an unused kit under the Refund Policy. Opening only the outer packaging to inspect the kit, read the instructions, or access activation materials does not by itself make the kit ineligible for that return.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle information. It is a notice, not a waiver of your privacy rights. Our Refund Policy forms part of these Terms.

2. Eligibility and authority to test

You must have reached the age of majority in your province or territory and reside in Canada to create an account or use the Service. By activating a kit or submitting a sample, you confirm that:

you own the dog or have the owner's authority to test it;
the sample comes from that dog and not from a person or another animal; and
information you provide about yourself, the dog, and the sample is accurate to the best of your knowledge.

Do not submit a sample you are not authorized to submit. We may reject or destroy an unauthorized, unsafe, contaminated, human, or non-canine sample.

3. Your account

Provide accurate account information and keep your credentials confidential. You are responsible for activity you knowingly authorize. Tell us promptly at support@puppygenes.com if you suspect unauthorized access. We may ask for reasonable information to verify an access, correction, export, deletion, or refund request.

You may close your account at any time. The Privacy Policy explains what is deleted, what may temporarily remain in backups, and any limited legal exceptions.

4. Wellness and educational service—not veterinary care

PuppyGenes is a consumer wellness and educational service. Reports identify and explain genetic signals relating to such subjects as ancestry, breed estimates, traits, diversity, and other content included in the product you purchased. They do not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease and are not a substitute for an examination, diagnosis, or advice from a veterinarian.

Do not use a report or Genie to start, stop, select, or delay veterinary care, medication, testing, treatment, diet, supplements, or breeding decisions. A veterinarian should assess symptoms, clinical findings, and your dog's complete history. You may share a report with your veterinarian as one source of background information.

5. Genie, our optional AI companion

Genie is an optional automated AI feature intended to help explain PuppyGenes reports in plain language.

General education only. Genie does not assess clinical symptoms or urgency, diagnose or rule out a condition, interpret veterinary tests, or prescribe or recommend medication, dosage, treatment, diet, supplements, or a breeding decision.
It can be wrong. AI-generated responses may be incomplete, out of date, inconsistent, or incorrect. Confirm important information with a qualified professional.
Not for emergencies. If a dog may be ill, injured, poisoned, or in distress, contact a veterinarian or emergency veterinary clinic. Do not wait for or rely on Genie.
Optional consent. You can view your report without enabling Genie. Before first use, we will present a separate consent explaining the information sent to our AI service providers, the purpose, cross-border processing, and how to withdraw. Any provider use for optional AI improvement or model training is covered by a second, off-by-default choice. Details are in the Privacy Policy and our current service-provider list at puppygenes.com/privacy/providers.
Information you type. Do not enter passwords, payment-card numbers, government identifiers, another person's personal information, or information you do not want transmitted to the AI providers described in the Privacy Policy.

6. Orders, prices, and distance-contract information

The retail seller and sales channel will present the applicable price, currency, taxes, shipping charges, other fees, total amount, payment terms, delivery or performance information, restrictions, and cancellation and return rules before an order is placed. You will have an opportunity to correct errors and retain or print the information. A copy of the applicable contract or order confirmation will be sent electronically after the transaction as required by law.

If PuppyGenes is the seller of record, an order is accepted only when we send an acceptance or shipping confirmation. We may decline an order before acceptance. If we cancel an accepted order, we will refund amounts charged for the cancelled item. No cancellation or refund restriction limits a mandatory statutory right.

Descriptions, contents, prices, expected shipping dates, laboratory turnaround estimates, and availability shown for a particular order form part of that order. Turnaround estimates begin only when the laboratory receives a usable sample and are estimates unless the checkout expressly states otherwise.

7. Returns, refunds, and statutory remedies

Our Refund Policy explains voluntary returns and refunds. In summary, an unused kit may be returned within 30 days after delivery, including where only the outer packaging was opened to inspect the contents, read the instructions, or access activation materials. A voluntary change-of-mind refund is generally unavailable after the laboratory has begun processing the sample because individualized laboratory work has started.

This limitation does not apply where the Service is not supplied, is materially late, defective, non-conforming, or misrepresented, or where applicable law otherwise provides a cancellation, refund, replacement, retest, chargeback, or other remedy. Nothing in these Terms limits a mandatory consumer right.

8. Sample collection and laboratory processing

By submitting a sample, you instruct and authorize PuppyGenes and its laboratory and service providers to receive, prepare, sequence or genotype, analyze, and report on the sample for the purposes described at activation and in the Privacy Policy.

We ordinarily use a coded internal sample identifier and limit direct identifiers sent to the laboratory to what is reasonably necessary and disclosed at activation. PuppyGenes does not itself possess the physical swab after it is sent to the laboratory. The laboratory's retention and destruction practices are described at activation and on our service-provider page. We do not promise automatic destruction by a particular date unless our written laboratory terms support that promise. You may ask us to forward a request to the laboratory to destroy any remaining sample, subject to completed processing and a documented legal, safety, or quality-control hold. Derived data is handled separately under the Privacy Policy.

If a sample is insufficient, contaminated, damaged, or otherwise unusable, the remedy in the Refund Policy applies. The reports available depend on the product purchased and may be updated as our reference data and methods improve, but we will not remove a material paid-for report without providing a remedy required by law.

9. Limits of genetic results

Genetic results have important limitations:

ancestry, breed, trait, diversity, and marker results are estimates based on available reference data and methods, not guarantees or certainties;
different providers may produce different estimates, and results may change when reference populations, scientific knowledge, or methods improve;
a genetic marker does not by itself establish that a dog has or will develop a condition, and absence of a tested marker does not rule one out;
a report may reveal unexpected ancestry or biological information; and
reports are not certificates of pedigree, ownership, identity, insurability, regulatory status, or suitability for breeding.

We will not describe a product's performance, accuracy, or scientific validity more strongly than our evidence reasonably supports.

10. Data use, research, and current no-sale practice

We use account information, information about your dog, and derived data only as described in the Privacy Policy and the consents presented to you.

We do not currently sell personal information, physical samples, raw dog-genetic data, or individual-level derived genetic data. We do not provide individual-level data to insurers or advertisers for their own underwriting or advertising.

External research sharing requires a separate, express, optional opt-in. Before sharing research data, we remove direct identifiers and apply reasonable measures to reduce re-identification risk. Deidentified information is not described as anonymous unless it has been irreversibly anonymized in accordance with applicable law. Research participation is not a condition of purchasing a kit or receiving a report. Withdrawal is prospective and cannot undo completed sharing or use in completed analyses, publications, or irreversibly anonymized results.

If we later offer an optional commercial data program, we will first give you a separate, plain-language notice identifying the data involved, the recipient or recipient category, the commercial purpose, material risks, whether PuppyGenes or another party receives compensation, and how to refuse or withdraw. We will obtain any express consent required by law. Participation will not be a condition of receiving a purchased report, and a general acceptance of these Terms will not count as consent to that program.

We may use aggregate or anonymized information that no longer identifies an individual for statistics, product development, validation, and research, as permitted by law.

11. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, the purposes, recipients, cross-border processing, retention, safeguards, and your choices and legal rights. We comply with applicable Canadian privacy law, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and Québec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector.

Where consent is required for information necessary to provide a requested service, withdrawing it may prevent us from continuing that part of the Service. We will explain the consequence at the time of withdrawal. Separate optional consents—including Genie and research consents—may be refused without preventing access to the core report.

12. Intellectual property and permission to process data

PuppyGenes and its licensors own the Service, branding, software, report design, written content, databases, and proprietary analysis methods and models. These Terms do not treat statutory privacy rights as property rights and do not claim ownership of your personal information or physical sample.

You authorize us to host, reproduce, analyze, and otherwise process information you submit only as reasonably necessary to provide, secure, maintain, and support the Service; comply with law; and carry out any separate optional purpose to which you expressly consent. This permission ends when the applicable purpose ends or consent is validly withdrawn, subject to the retention and legal exceptions in the Privacy Policy.

We grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use your account and reports for lawful, non-commercial purposes. You may download and share your own report, including with your veterinarian. You may not copy or commercialize the Service, its software, reference database, or proprietary methods.

13. Acceptable use

You must not:

submit a human sample, a non-canine sample, or a sample you lack authority to submit;
attempt unauthorized access, interfere with security, overload the Service, introduce malicious code, or evade usage controls;
scrape, systematically extract, reverse engineer, resell, or commercially exploit the Service except where applicable law expressly permits the activity;
use a report or Genie to deceive, harass, discriminate against, or harm a person or animal; or
use Genie as an emergency, diagnostic, prescribing, or veterinary service.

14. Service providers and external services

We use service providers for laboratory processing, hosting, authentication, analytics, customer communications, shipping, payment processing, support, and AI responses. We remain responsible for selecting, instructing, and overseeing them to the extent required by privacy and consumer law. We require appropriate confidentiality, security, purpose-limitation, incident-notice, and deletion or return commitments where required.

Our current material provider categories and, where material, identified providers, functions, processing locations, and applicable AI retention information are listed at puppygenes.com/privacy/providers. A provider may change where the change does not materially reduce your rights or alter a purpose; material privacy changes are handled under the Privacy Policy and applicable consent rules.

15. Mandatory warranties and limited disclaimers

The Service carries all legal warranties, conditions, and remedies that applicable law does not permit us to exclude. In particular, nothing in these Terms excludes Québec legal warranties of fitness for purpose and durability or another province's equivalent mandatory rights.

Subject to those rights, genetic estimates and AI-generated explanations involve inherent uncertainty. We do not promise that every estimate or Genie response will be complete, error-free, or suitable for a medical, legal, insurance, breeding, identification, or regulatory purpose. We do not guarantee uninterrupted access during reasonable maintenance, security work, or events beyond our reasonable control.

16. Limitation of liability

Nothing in sections 14 to 17 excludes or limits:

a mandatory consumer right, legal warranty, condition, or remedy;
responsibility that law imposes for our own acts or representations or those of our representatives;
liability for intentional or gross fault, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or bodily or moral injury;
a privacy, confidentiality, or security obligation to the extent it cannot lawfully be limited; or
any other liability that applicable law prohibits us from limiting.

Subject to those exclusions and to the fullest extent permitted by law, neither party is liable for indirect, special, incidental, or consequential loss that was not reasonably foreseeable when the contract was formed. Where a monetary cap is lawful, PuppyGenes' aggregate liability for a claim relating to a particular kit or paid Service will not exceed the greater of the amount paid for that kit or Service and the minimum recovery required by applicable law.

17. Responsibility for intentional misuse

You are responsible for direct losses reasonably caused by your knowing submission of a sample without authority or your intentional, fraudulent, or malicious use of the Service. You are not required to indemnify PuppyGenes for ordinary consumer use, an act or omission of PuppyGenes or its providers, or your good-faith exercise of a legal right. We will take reasonable steps to mitigate any claimed loss.

18. Suspension, account closure, and termination

You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time. We may suspend only the affected functionality where reasonably necessary to investigate or address unlawful use, a material breach, fraud, a security risk, or harm to a person, animal, or system. Unless urgent action is reasonably required, we will give notice and a reasonable opportunity to correct a remediable breach.

Termination does not eliminate accrued statutory rights. Provisions that by their nature must continue—including limitations concerning permitted use, intellectual property, completed transactions, and dispute resolution—survive only to the extent and for the period reasonably necessary.

19. Complaints, governing law, and courts

Contact support@puppygenes.com first if you would like us to try to resolve a concern informally. This does not suspend a statutory deadline or require you to contact us before exercising a legal right.

Québec consumers. If you are a consumer residing in Québec, these Terms are governed by the laws of Québec and the applicable laws of Canada. You may bring a proceeding before any court or authority having jurisdiction under Québec law. Nothing in these Terms limits a right or remedy under the Consumer Protection Act, the Civil Code of Québec, or other mandatory law.

Other consumers. If you reside elsewhere in Canada, these Terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the applicable laws of Canada, without limiting any mandatory consumer right, remedy, governing law, or forum available in your province or territory.

20. Language and Québec consumers

The French versions of these Terms, the Refund Policy, and all related standard-form documents are made available and remitted to Québec consumers before they are asked to enter into the contract. A Québec consumer may contract in English only after receiving the French versions and expressly choosing English. We retain evidence of the versions provided and the consumer's choice.

Where applicable law permits a Québec consumer to rely on the language version or interpretation most favourable to that consumer, nothing in these Terms limits that right. Subject to mandatory law, the English version governs for consumers outside Québec.

21. Changes to these Terms

We may unilaterally amend only these non-essential elements: (a) the account-administration procedures in section 3; (b) the acceptable-use rules in section 13; and (c) reasonable technical or security requirements that do not reduce a purchased Service. We will not unilaterally change the nature or price of a kit or Service already purchased.

At least 30 days before an amendment takes effect, we will send each affected consumer a written notice setting out exclusively the new or amended clause, the former clause, the effective date, and the consumer's right to refuse the amendment and cancel where applicable. Where an amendment increases your obligations or reduces ours, you may reject it and cancel the affected continuing Service without cost by notifying us no later than 30 days after the amendment takes effect, or within any longer period required by applicable law. Amendments do not affect accrued rights or completed purchases. We obtain new consent before using personal information for a materially new purpose where required by law.

22. General

If a provision is invalid or unenforceable, it will be limited or severed only to the minimum extent necessary; the remainder continues to apply. A delay in enforcing a provision is not a waiver. We may transfer these Terms as part of a merger, financing, reorganization, or sale of the relevant business if the transfer does not reduce your rights, and we will provide any notice required by law. You may not transfer your account to another person without our consent.

These Terms, the order information presented before purchase where PuppyGenes is the seller, the Refund Policy, and any separate consent you give form the agreement about the Service. The Privacy Policy describes our information practices and does not reduce your contractual or statutory rights.

23. Contact

1001635490 Ontario Inc., carrying on business as PuppyGenes
539 Barry Drive, Pickering, Ontario L1V 5M4
416-315-6352
support@puppygenes.com