The short version
Mind A Dog does not ask you to create an account and does not sell personal information. Like most free websites, we use analytics to understand which articles are read, and we intend to show advertising to cover our costs. Those third parties set cookies and collect data under their own policies. You can control most of it, and this page explains how.
Who we are
This site, mindadog.com, is independently published. For anything in this policy, please use the contact page.
This policy was last updated on 18 August 2026.
Information we collect directly
We collect very little directly, because there is very little we need.
- Email correspondence. If you email us, we hold your message and your address for as long as it takes to deal with it and to keep a sensible record of correspondence.
- Comments. Commenting is currently switched off across this site. If it is ever switched on, this policy will be updated before it is.
- Server logs. Our web host records standard technical information such as IP address, browser type and pages requested. This is ordinary web-server operation and is used for security and troubleshooting.
We do not ask for your name, address, phone number or payment details, and we have no reason to.
Cookies and similar technologies
A cookie is a small file a website or its partners store on your device. Mind A Dog itself uses only what is needed to make the site work. The cookies that actually matter on this site come from third parties, described below.
You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Blocking third-party cookies will not stop you reading anything here.
Analytics
We use website analytics to see which articles people read, roughly where in the world readers are, and how they arrived. This is reported to us in aggregate. We use it to decide what to write next, not to identify individuals.
Our analytics is provided by Google Analytics, a Google service. Google processes this data under its own privacy policy and its own terms. You can opt out of Google Analytics across all sites using Google’s browser opt-out add-on.
Advertising
Mind A Dog intends to carry display advertising to remain free to read.
Where third-party advertising is served on this site, please note the following, which applies to Google advertising products and to advertising vendors generally:
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to this website or other websites.
- Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to users based on their visit to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
- Users may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings.
- Users may opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalised advertising by visiting the opt-out pages operated by the Network Advertising Initiative and the Digital Advertising Alliance.
Advertisers do not receive your personal information from us. We do not control which specific adverts appear, and an advert appearing on Mind A Dog is not an endorsement by us.
Affiliate links
Some links on this site may be affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission if you buy something after clicking. Affiliate programmes typically use cookies to attribute a purchase to the referring site. They do not tell us who you are or what you bought as an individual. Our Affiliate Disclosure explains the arrangement in full.
Children
Mind A Dog is written for adult dog owners. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age at which consent is required in their country. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, email us and we will delete it.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights over your personal data. These commonly include the right to know what is held, the right to a copy, the right to correction, the right to deletion, the right to object to processing, and the right not to have personal information sold. Mind A Dog does not sell personal information.
Readers in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom have these rights under the GDPR and UK GDPR. Readers in California and several other jurisdictions have comparable rights under their own laws. Readers in Australia have rights under the Australian Privacy Principles.
To exercise any of them, contact us through the contact page and tell us what you want. We will not charge you for a reasonable request, and we will not treat you differently for making one.
How long we keep things
Email correspondence is kept only as long as there is a genuine reason to keep it. Server logs are retained for a short operational period by our host. Analytics data is retained under the retention settings of the analytics provider.
International readers
Mind A Dog is published from Australia and read worldwide. Our service providers, including analytics and advertising partners, may process data in other countries. Where that happens, it is done under those providers’ own safeguards and privacy frameworks.
Security
We take reasonable steps to protect the small amount of information we hold, including serving the site over an encrypted connection and keeping the platform updated. No website can promise perfect security, and we will not pretend otherwise.
Links to other sites
Where we link out, that site’s privacy policy governs what happens there, not ours. We would encourage you to read it if you are giving them information.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we will update the date at the top and, where the change is significant, note it clearly on the page. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the updated policy.
A note on this page
This policy is written in plain language to be genuinely readable rather than to be impressive. It is not legal advice, and it does not attempt to summarise the law of every country our readers live in. If you need a formal answer about your own rights, speak to a qualified adviser in your jurisdiction.