Terms of service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legal agreement between you and PAWS & STEADY PET LLC, doing business as Paws & Steady ("Paws & Steady," "we," "us," or "our"). They govern your access to and use of pawsandsteady.com, our online store, assessments, content, communications, products, and related services (collectively, the "Services"). Our store is hosted by Shopify.

By accessing or using the Services, creating an account, completing an assessment, or placing an order, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

1. Eligibility and Accounts

You must be at least 18 years old or the age of majority where you live to create an account or make a purchase. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information and to update it as needed. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of account credentials and for activity conducted through your account. Notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorized use.

2. Product Information and Availability

We make reasonable efforts to display and describe products accurately. Colors, dimensions, packaging, and appearance may vary because of screens, photography, manufacturing updates, supplier changes, and natural product variation. Product descriptions, prices, promotions, availability, and specifications may change without notice. We may limit quantities, discontinue products, or correct errors at any time, including after an order is submitted, subject to applicable law.

Third-party and drop-shipped products may be manufactured, packaged, fulfilled, or shipped by independent suppliers. A supplier name, manufacturer warranty, or separate safety instruction may appear on the product page, packaging, or insert and forms part of the product information you should review.

3. Veterinary and Health Information Disclaimer

The Services provide general educational and product-selection information only. Paws & Steady is not a veterinary practice, and the Services do not provide veterinary advice, diagnosis, treatment, or emergency services. Content about mobility, comfort, behavior, appetite, continence, aging, or product use is not a substitute for examination or advice from a licensed veterinarian or other qualified animal-health professional.

Contact a veterinarian promptly about new, worsening, severe, or unexplained symptoms, including difficulty standing or walking, pain, weakness, falls, breathing changes, appetite changes, sudden incontinence, injury, or distress. In an emergency, contact an emergency veterinary provider immediately.

4. Assessments, Guides, and Product Recommendations

The Senior Dog Support Assessment™, the Steady Steps Framework™, guides, quizzes, articles, emails, and product recommendations are educational tools. Results are based on the information you submit and may be incomplete or unsuitable for a particular dog. They do not diagnose a condition, prescribe treatment, determine whether a product is medically appropriate, or guarantee a particular outcome.

You are responsible for reviewing product specifications, sizing, weight limits, warnings, and instructions and for consulting a veterinarian when a dog has a medical condition, recent surgery, significant weakness, pain, or other health concern.

5. Product Selection, Fit, and Safe Use

Mobility and support products can present risks if incorrectly selected, fitted, installed, maintained, or used. Before use, you agree to:

• Confirm the product is appropriate for the dog’s size, weight, body shape, mobility level, and intended use.

• Read and follow all manufacturer instructions, warnings, sizing guidance, installation requirements, and weight limits.

• Inspect the product before each use and discontinue use if it is damaged, worn, unstable, loose, or no longer fits correctly.

• Use ramps, steps, traction products, slings, and harnesses only on stable surfaces and with appropriate supervision and assistance.

• Never use a product as a restraint, lifting device, or fall-protection system unless the instructions expressly permit that use.

• Stop use and contact a veterinarian if the dog experiences pain, skin irritation, breathing difficulty, panic, loss of balance, worsening mobility, or other distress.

No product can eliminate all risk of falls, injuries, discomfort, or progression of an underlying condition. You remain responsible for supervision, safe installation, proper fit, routine inspection, and decisions about the dog’s care.

6. Orders and Acceptance

Submitting an order is an offer to purchase. We may accept, reject, limit, or cancel an order for reasons including product availability, suspected fraud, pricing or description errors, shipping restrictions, supplier limitations, or violations of these Terms. An automated order confirmation acknowledges receipt but does not necessarily mean the order has been accepted. Acceptance occurs when payment is approved and the order enters fulfillment or ships.

Review your order carefully before submitting it. Cancellation requests are not guaranteed after fulfillment begins. If we cancel an order after payment, we will refund the amount charged for the canceled item or order.

7. Prices, Payments, Taxes, and Promotions

Prices are shown in U.S. dollars unless stated otherwise. Taxes, shipping, handling, and other charges are added as shown at checkout. You authorize us and our payment processors to charge the payment method provided for the total shown at checkout. You represent that you are authorized to use that payment method.

Promotions may have separate terms, expiration dates, exclusions, and quantity limits. If promotion terms conflict with these Terms, the promotion terms control for that promotion. We may correct pricing or promotional errors and, where permitted, cancel affected orders and issue a refund.

8. Shipping and Delivery

Shipping, processing, delivery estimates, delays, split shipments, address requirements, and lost-package procedures are governed by our Shipping & Returns Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms. Delivery dates are estimates unless expressly stated as guaranteed. If we cannot ship within a promised timeframe, we will provide the notice, cancellation option, or refund required by applicable law.

9. Returns, Exchanges, and Refunds

Returns, exchanges, and refunds are governed by our Shipping & Returns Policy. Statutory rights that cannot be waived remain unaffected. We may decline a return that does not meet the published eligibility requirements, except where applicable law requires otherwise.

10. Manufacturer Instructions, Warranties, and Recalls

Some products may include instructions or warranties provided by the manufacturer or supplier. Review and retain those materials. A manufacturer warranty, if any, is provided by the identified warrantor under its own terms unless Paws & Steady expressly states that it is the warrantor.

We may contact customers about safety notices, product corrections, or recalls. Stop using an affected product and follow the notice instructions. Keep your contact information current so we can reach you when necessary.

11. Intellectual Property

The Services and their content, including text, graphics, photographs, videos, assessments, frameworks, guides, layouts, trademarks, logos, product names, and other materials, are owned by or licensed to Paws & Steady and are protected by intellectual-property laws. This includes Paws & Steady™, the Senior Dog Support Assessment™, and the Steady Steps Framework™ to the extent rights exist.

We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Services for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may not copy, reproduce, republish, distribute, sell, modify, create derivative works from, scrape, or commercially exploit the Services or content without prior written permission, except as permitted by law.

12. Reviews, Photos, and Other Submissions

If you submit a review, photo, story, suggestion, or other content ("User Content"), you retain any ownership rights you have but grant Paws & Steady a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, and sublicensable license to host, reproduce, edit for length or formatting, display, distribute, and use the User Content to operate, improve, and promote the Services and products, subject to applicable law and our Privacy Policy.

You represent that you have the necessary rights and permissions, that the User Content is truthful and not misleading, that any material connection or incentive is properly disclosed, and that the User Content does not violate law or another person’s rights. Do not submit veterinary records, private medical information, or content depicting unsafe product use. We may moderate or remove User Content but are not required to do so.

13. Third-Party Services and Links

The Services may include third-party apps, payment services, social-media features, manufacturer information, or links to third-party websites. We do not control and are not responsible for third-party services, content, availability, security, or policies. Your use of a third-party service may be governed by separate terms and privacy notices.

14. Shopify

Shopify provides the platform that hosts our store but is not the seller of products purchased from Paws & Steady. Transactions are between you and Paws & Steady. To the extent permitted by law, Shopify and its affiliates are not responsible for the products, fulfillment, or customer relationship between you and Paws & Steady.

15. Privacy

Our collection and use of personal information are described in our Privacy Policy. By using the Services, you acknowledge that personal information may be processed by Shopify and other providers as described there.

16. Prohibited Uses

You may not use the Services to:

• Violate law, regulation, intellectual-property rights, privacy rights, or these Terms.

• Submit false, fraudulent, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, or misleading content.

• Impersonate another person, misrepresent affiliation, use an unauthorized payment method, or interfere with another customer’s account.

• Introduce malware, disrupt security, bypass access controls, overload the Services, or attempt unauthorized access to systems or information.

• Scrape, harvest, crawl, or use automated means to access the Services in a manner that violates posted technical controls, robots instructions, law, or these Terms, except with our written permission.

• Resell products in violation of an applicable product-page restriction, promotion term, or written agreement.

17. Suspension and Termination

We may restrict, suspend, or terminate access to the Services when reasonably necessary to protect customers, prevent fraud or misuse, comply with law, enforce these Terms, or protect our rights and systems. Termination does not affect obligations that arose before termination or provisions that by their nature should survive.

18. Website and Educational Content Disclaimer

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the website, assessments, guides, and other digital Services are provided on an "as available" basis. We do not guarantee that the Services will always be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, current, complete, or suitable for every purpose. This disclaimer does not eliminate rights or obligations that cannot lawfully be excluded.

19. Product Warranties

Products are subject to any express warranty stated on the product page or supplied by the manufacturer. Except for an applicable express warranty and to the fullest extent permitted by law, Paws & Steady disclaims implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Some jurisdictions do not permit limitations on implied warranties, so these limitations may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits non-waivable consumer rights.

20. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Paws & Steady and its owners, officers, employees, agents, contractors, service providers, and licensors will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, punitive, or consequential damages, including lost profits, lost data, or loss of goodwill, arising from or related to the Services or products, even if advised that such damages were possible.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the total aggregate liability of Paws & Steady for a claim arising from a product or transaction will not exceed the amount you paid to Paws & Steady for the product or transaction giving rise to the claim. These limitations do not apply to liability that cannot legally be limited, including where applicable liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or personal injury caused by conduct for which the law prohibits limitation.

21. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Paws & Steady and its owners, officers, employees, agents, contractors, service providers, and licensors from third-party claims, losses, and reasonable costs arising from your unlawful use of the Services, your material breach of these Terms, or User Content that violates another party’s rights. This section does not require you to indemnify a party for its own negligence or misconduct where prohibited by law.

22. Force Majeure

We are not responsible for delay or failure caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including severe weather, natural disaster, labor disruption, carrier interruption, supplier failure, cyberattack, utility or network outage, government action, epidemic, war, or similar event. This provision does not remove any right to a cancellation or refund required by applicable law.

23. Governing Law and Venue

Except where prohibited by applicable consumer-protection law, these Terms and disputes arising from them are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois and applicable federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Subject to any non-waivable right to bring a claim elsewhere, the parties consent to the state and federal courts located in Illinois. Nothing in this section prevents either party from bringing an eligible claim in small-claims court.

24. General Terms

If any provision is found unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the remaining provisions will continue in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent; we may assign them in connection with a business transfer or reorganization. These Terms, together with policies incorporated by reference and any product- or promotion-specific terms, are the entire agreement regarding the Services.

25. Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. We will post the updated version, change the "Last updated" date, and provide additional notice when required. Changes apply prospectively from the stated effective date. Continued use of the Services after the effective date constitutes acceptance to the extent permitted by law.

26. Contact Information

PAWS & STEADY PET LLC (d/b/a Paws & Steady)

Email: pawsandsteady@gmail.com

Phone: +1 779-915-9676