Privacy policy

The Cozy Hound respects your privacy. This site is built to be lightweight and to collect as little personal information as possible. This policy explains what is collected when you visit, the cookies and third parties involved, and the choices you have.

Who we are

The Cozy Hound publishes informational guides about keeping dogs calm, and links to calming music and Dog TV on our YouTube channel, @TheCozyHounds. This policy covers this website. It does not cover third-party sites we link to, which have their own privacy policies.

Information we collect

Information you give us. We only receive personal information you choose to send, such as an email address if you contact us or if you sign up for our email updates.

Email sign-ups. If you enter your email address in one of our signup forms, it is sent to Kit (kit.com), the email service we use, along with a label recording which page you signed up from. We do not store your address on this website or in any database of our own. Kit emails you to confirm the address is really yours, and you are only added to the list once you click that confirmation link. Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes effect immediately.

Information collected automatically. Like most websites, our hosting provider records standard technical data when pages are served, such as your IP address, browser type, the pages you view, and the date and time. This is used to keep the site secure and working. The site uses no advertising trackers and no cross-site tracking.

Analytics. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics to see which pages are read and how quickly they load. It is privacy-first by design: it sets no cookies, does not fingerprint your device, and does not follow you to other websites. Visitor counts are worked out from ordinary request data, which is hashed and discarded rather than stored against you. We cannot identify you from it, and there is nothing for you to opt out of because nothing about you is retained.

Cookies

The Cozy Hound's own pages do not set marketing or tracking cookies. Some cookies may still be set by third parties:

• Affiliate links. When you click an affiliate link, the retailer or affiliate network (for example, Amazon or an insurance comparison partner) may set a cookie, and any information you provide on their site is handled by them, so any resulting purchase is credited to us. See our affiliate disclosure for more.
• Embedded videos. We embed YouTube videos using YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com) to reduce tracking, but YouTube (Google) may still set cookies if you play or interact with a video.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Doing so will not stop you from reading our guides.

Third parties we rely on

We use a small number of reputable services to run the site, each governed by its own privacy policy:

• Cloudflare — website hosting, content delivery, and the privacy-first Web Analytics described above (no cookies, no fingerprinting).
• Affiliate networks (such as Amazon Associates, CJ/Commission Junction, Impact/impact.com, and Partnerize/Pepperjam) — these set cookies and use tracking technology to credit qualifying purchases made through our affiliate links. You can remove or block these cookies in your browser settings (see Cookies above).
• Insurance comparison partners (for example, The Swiftest). If you click a link to compare or buy pet insurance, you'll be taken to a partner's website. Any information you choose to provide there for a quote or policy is collected and used by that partner under its own privacy policy, and the partner may contact you about its products. We may earn a commission if you buy a policy.
• Kit (kit.com) — our email service. It stores the email address of anyone who signs up, sends the confirmation and the emails themselves, and handles unsubscribes.
• Gumroad — the store that sells and delivers our paid digital products. If you buy one, Gumroad is the seller of record and handles your payment details and email address under its own privacy policy. We never see or store your card details.
• YouTube / Google — for embedded video.

How we use information

We use the limited information described above to operate and secure the site, to respond to messages you send us, to send email updates if you have asked for them, and to meet legal obligations. We do not sell your personal information.

Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete personal information we hold about you, to object to or restrict its use, and to opt out of marketing. If you ever subscribe to email updates, every message includes an unsubscribe link. To make any request, contact us at hello@thecozyhounds.com and we will respond as required by law.

Children's privacy

This site is intended for adults and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, please contact us and we will delete it.

Data retention and security

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purpose it was provided or as required by law, and we take reasonable measures to protect it. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "last updated" date above. Significant changes will be made clear on this page.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your information? Email us at hello@thecozyhounds.com.

This policy is provided for general information and is not legal advice.