Disclaimer

1. Read this before you unclip the leash

My Dog Rules, operated by Estate Wise Limited (Company No. 9374111), is an information and guidance service for New Zealand dog owners. We work hard to make it accurate, we source it carefully, and we're honest about its limits. This Disclaimer forms part of our Terms & Conditions and applies to everything in the Service.

In plain English: Everything in the app is a well-researched guide — not the law, not a guarantee, not veterinary advice, not financial advice. Councils, signs, vets, and your own judgement are the authorities. Ours is the map; theirs is the territory.

2. Dog access rules

• Councils make the rules. Dog access rules are set by territorial authorities under the Dog Control Act 1996 and their bylaws and policies. We present rule information sourced from council publications. It is a guide to the rules — it is not the rules themselves.

• If we differ from the council, the council is right. If anything in the Service conflicts with a council's current bylaw, policy, or on-site signage, the official version prevails and you must follow it.

• Information may be out of date. Councils amend rules, impose seasonal restrictions, and close areas at any time, sometimes with little notice. We take care to keep our data current, but we do not guarantee it reflects the rules in force at any given moment.

• No rule shown does not mean no rules apply. Where we have no specific rule recorded for a place, we state the councils general rule if available or where it is not the national baseline under the Dog Control Act 1996 — general obligations like keeping your dog under control always apply.

• Verify on site. Always check physical signage at the location and comply with directions from council officers or rangers. Fines and prosecutions under the Dog Control Act are enforced against you.

• Boundaries are approximate. Map polygons, zones, and markers are indicative; GPS and mapping data involve inherent approximation.

3. Hazard and safety information

• A guide, never an all-clear. Per-location water and hazard signals, the hazard reference guide, and current-warnings feeds are general information. Where our data is limited, we deliberately hedge rather than assert a place is safe. The absence of a warning is never a guarantee that no hazard exists.

• Not exhaustive, not real-time. Hazards like toxic algae, karaka berries, poison-control operations, and marine toxins change with seasons and conditions. Always follow official advisories (from councils, conservation authorities, and public-health authorities) and on-site warnings, and assess conditions yourself on the day.

• If exposure is suspected, call a vet immediately. Nothing in the Service is a substitute for veterinary care.

4. AI assistants — behaviour and nutrition

• AI-generated, general information only. Answers from the behaviour and nutrition assistants are generated by artificial intelligence. They may be incorrect or incomplete, they are not tailored to your dog, and you rely on them at your own risk. A notice to this effect appears in the chat itself.

• Not veterinary advice. The assistants do not provide veterinary diagnosis, treatment, or advice. Under the Veterinarians Act 2005 only registered veterinarians may practise veterinary science, and nothing in the Service holds itself out as doing so. For any medical condition, allergy, suspected poisoning, significant diet change, or whenever you're in doubt — see a vet. This matters most for nutrition: wrong feeding advice can genuinely harm an animal, so treat the assistant as a starting point for questions to ask a professional, not a prescription.

• Not for access or leash rules. The assistants are designed to decline questions about where dogs may go and to direct you to the rules information for the location. Do not rely on a chat answer for anything with legal consequences.

5. Pet insurance Q&A

Our pet-insurance content is educational only. It explains general concepts — it does not recommend any insurer, policy, or product, and it is not financial advice or an insurance broking service under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. Insurance policies differ materially; read the policy wording and, if you need advice about what suits your situation, talk to a licensed financial advice provider.

6. Owners' handbook and legal summaries

The owners' handbook restates, in plain language, obligations that arise under the Dog Control Act 1996 and related law — registration, microchipping, leashing, and so on. It is a general guide, not legal advice. For the authoritative position, refer to the Dog Control Act 1996, your council's bylaw, or a lawyer.

7. Third-party information, venues, and links

• Venue and listing details (vets, cafés, groomers, trainers etc — where available includes opening hours, contact details & website) come from third-party sources and the venues themselves. They may be inaccurate or stale. Verify before relying (phone ahead, check the venue's own site).

• Weather overlays are third-party forecast data — useful, not gospel.

• Outbound links (government and council websites, event directories, lost-pet listing services, venue websites, and others — the specific sites may change over time) lead to sites we don't control and aren't responsible for; a link is not an endorsement.

• Sponsored listings are labelled as such. A paid placement is a commercial arrangement about visibility, not our endorsement of the venue's quality or suitability.

• User reviews and photos reflect the experiences and opinions of the people who posted them, not our views. We host them; we don't author or endorse them.

8. What this Disclaimer does — and doesn't do

This Disclaimer tells you honestly what the Service is, so you can rely on it appropriately. It does not — and legally cannot — exclude or limit rights you have as a consumer under the Fair Trading Act 1986 or the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993. We don't hide behind fine print: our primary commitment is doing the work to keep the underlying data accurate, sourced, and carefully presented.

Our Terms & Conditions set out the liability position that applies alongside this Disclaimer, including the protections we can never exclude.

How to contact us

Questions, feedback, or a wagging complaint? We would genuinely like to hear from you.

• Company: Estate Wise Limited (Company No. 9374111), trading as My Dog Rules

• Email: support@mydogrules.co.nz

• Phone: +64 21 205 6078

• Address: 123 Grovenor Drive, Orewa, Auckland, New Zealand