The short version
You can read every page of the guide without giving any information about yourself. Nothing on the site asks you to sign in, subscribe or fill in a form. No cookies are set, no analytics or tracking scripts run, and no advertising networks load anything into the page.
Fonts and images are served from the same server as the pages, so loading a page does not send a request to a font service or an image host elsewhere. The cost calculator runs entirely in your browser: the figures you type stay on your device and are gone when you close the tab.
What the server still records
Like almost every website, the server and the content delivery network in front of it keep standard access logs. A log line typically holds the IP address that made the request, the date and time, the page requested, the browser's user agent string and the referring page, if there was one.
The logs exist for security and to keep the site running, for example to spot and block abusive traffic or to find the cause of an error. The hosting infrastructure deletes them automatically after no more than 30 days. They are not used to identify readers or build profiles, not combined with other data and not sold.
If you write to the editors through the address on the contact page, your message and email address are used to read and answer it and, where you send a correction, to check and make the fix. The message is deleted once the matter is closed, and no later than 12 months after the last reply. Your address is never added to a mailing list or passed to anyone else.
Who handles the data for the site
Nothing is sold, rented or shared for marketing. Three kinds of service provider handle information on the site's behalf, only to deliver it: the hosting provider whose servers store and serve the pages; Cloudflare, Inc., the content delivery network that passes each request on to those servers and filters out attacks (Cloudflare's privacy policy); and the email provider that holds messages sent to the editors.
Cloudflare is based in the United States and answers requests from data centres around the world, so a request from Canada may be handled outside the country. Information processed abroad is subject to the laws of that country, and may be accessible to its courts and authorities. Information may also be disclosed where Canadian law requires it, for example under a court order.
Your rights under PIPEDA
Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) gives you the right to ask what personal information an organization holds about you, to ask for it to be corrected, and to withdraw consent to its use. For this site that usually means an email you sent. To make a request, write to the address on the contact page and say what you would like done; requests are handled as quickly as reasonably possible.
If you are not satisfied with the answer, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, which oversees PIPEDA.
Links to other websites
Many pages link to outside sources, such as the Canadian Kennel Club, breed clubs, provincial governments, SPCAs and veterinary schools. Those sites have their own privacy policies and may use cookies or analytics of their own. Once you follow a link, their policy applies, not this one.
Changes to this page
If the way the site handles information changes, for example if a new feature ever needed to store something, this page will be updated before the change goes live and the revision date at the top will move. The current version was last revised in October 2026. The about page explains who writes the guide, and the AI image notice covers how the pictures are made.