May HydroDog franchisees obtain items and services that you may obtain only from approved suppliers?
Hydrodog Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
he HydroDog Business.
Suppliers
You must purchase the products, supplies, equipment, and services that you use or sell in the HydroDog Business in accordance with our specifications and quality standards and, if applicable, only from suppliers we have designated or approved (which may include us or our affiliates). You will at all times maintain a complete inventory of approved items and supplies necessary for operating your HydroDog Business and providing services to customers.
If we require you to use an approved supplier for a particular item, but you wish to purchase the item from a supplier that we have not approved, you may submit a written request for approval of the supplier, unless it is an item for which we have designated a particular vendor as the source for the particular product or service. We will provide our standards and specifications to you or to the proposed supplier, subject to the supplier's execution of a confidentiality agreement in a form acceptable to us. We have the
right to inspect the proposed supplier's facilities and to require delivery of product samples either to us or to an independent laboratory designated by us for testing. You may be required to pay a fee, which will not exceed our reasonable costs incurred in evaluating the supplier, regardless of whether or not we approve the supplier. You may not purchase, sell, or offer for sale any products or services of the proposed supplier until you receive our written approval of the proposed supplier. We will notify you of approval or disapproval of the proposed supplier within 30 days after receiving your request and completion of evaluation and testing, if required. Our failure to respond within this timeframe shall not constitute approval of the proposed supplier. You may not sell or offer for sale any products or services of the proposed supplier until you receive our written approval.
We have the right to revoke approval of particular suppliers if we determine that the suppliers or their products or services no longer meet our standards. Upon receipt of written notice of revocation, you must stop buying from the disapproved supplier. In addition, if we revoke our approval of the products because they fail to meet our standards, you may be required not to use your remaining inventory of those products.
As of the issuance date of this disclosure document, we are the only approved supplier for the Initial Tools Package. We are also an approved supplier of HydroDog Vehicles and subleases for HydroDog Vehicles. We reserve the right to designate ourselves as an approved supplier, or as the only approved supplier, for additional particular products and services in the future.
We and our affiliates may receive rebates or other consideration from unaffiliated suppliers with respect to their sales of products or services to you or other HydroDog franchisees, whether or not the product or service is presently mentioned in this Item.
Source: Item 8 — RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (FDD pages 18–21)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Hydrodog's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are generally required to purchase products, supplies, equipment, and services from approved suppliers, which may include Hydrodog or its affiliates. However, if a franchisee wishes to use a non-approved supplier for an item that doesn't have a designated vendor, they can submit a written request for approval. Hydrodog will then provide its standards and specifications to the supplier, contingent on the supplier signing a confidentiality agreement.
Hydrodog has the right to inspect the supplier's facilities and request product samples for testing, with the franchisee potentially bearing the evaluation costs, regardless of approval. Franchisees cannot purchase, sell, or offer products from the proposed supplier until written approval is granted. Hydrodog will notify the franchisee of the decision within 30 days of receiving the request and completing the evaluation. Failure to respond within this timeframe does not constitute approval.
For certain items like the HydroDog Vehicle, franchisees must purchase or lease them directly from Hydrodog, its affiliate, or a designated supplier. Similarly, the point-of-sale system and specific components of the computer system must be acquired from designated suppliers. While other computer system components can be purchased from a supplier of the franchisee's choice, they must still adhere to Hydrodog's standards and specifications. The FDD states that purchases and leases that franchisees must make from Hydrodog or its affiliates, from approved suppliers, or according to Hydrodog's System Standards represent approximately 70%-100% of the total purchases and leases in establishing, and approximately 80% of the total purchases and leases in operating, a HydroDog Business.