This article walks through building an agreement from scratch in Teddy's editor and every setting you'll touch along the way.
Go to Agreements in the sidebar (SETUP group) and open the Agreements list.
Tap the + Add New button at the top-right. Teddy opens a blank New Agreement editor.
Fill in Agreement Title at the top. This is the name you'll see in the list and the name the client sees when signing. Use clear, client-friendly titles: "Policies and Procedures 2026", "Matted Pet Release", "Photo Release".
Write the body in the Agreement Content rich-text editor (more on that below).
Choose between Sign Once or Sign on every Booking (more on that below).
Optionally, customize the EDIT EMAIL MESSAGE and EDIT TEXT MESSAGE buttons — these control the message body Teddy uses when sending this agreement to a client for signing.
Tap Save at the top right.
The Agreement Content field is a full rich-text editor. You can:
Bold, italicize, underline
Create bullet and numbered lists
Use headings to break up sections
Insert tables if you need them
Link to external pages (though most agreements stay self-contained)
Think of it like a lightweight Google Doc. You don't need to worry about HTML — type the way you'd type in any word processor.
A few principles for writing an agreement:
Short paragraphs. Wall-of-text agreements don't get read.
Plain language. "We will do everything we can to keep your pet safe" beats "The aforementioned establishment shall exercise due care and diligence…"
Sections. Even a short agreement benefits from headings: Cancellation Policy, Late Arrivals, Emergency Vet Authorization, Photo Release.
A clear action at the end. "By signing below, I acknowledge and agree to the terms above."
The agreement content you see in Teddy Grooming's "Matted Pet Release" is a good reference template — it opens with "YOUR PET IS IMPORTANT TO US!", explains why matted pets are higher-risk, explains what the client is agreeing to, and closes with the emergency vet authorization. Three short paragraphs, no jargon.
Below the editor there's a radio (or toggle) with two options that control when Teddy prompts the client to sign:
The client signs this agreement one time, and Teddy remembers it forever. Use this for:
General policies — once a client has agreed to your cancellation policy, they don't need to re-agree at every visit.
Photo releases — a one-time consent to use photos on social.
Contact consent — agreeing to receive text reminders.
In the Agreements list, the row for a Sign Once agreement shows Signed: Once.
Every new booking prompts the client to sign this agreement again, even if they've signed it before. Use this for:
Matted pet releases — because the severity of matting varies per visit, and the liability is different each time.
Per-visit acknowledgments — any waiver tied to specific service conditions that change.
High-risk specialty services — if you do hand-stripping or scissor-only work on anxious pets, a per-visit signature is protective.
In the Agreements list, the row for a Sign on Every Booking agreement shows Signed: Everytime.
Default to Sign Once unless there's a real reason to collect a fresh signature every time. Repeated signatures annoy loyal clients, and most shops don't need them for anything except matted pet releases.
Below the Sign Once/Every Booking option, there are two buttons labeled EDIT EMAIL MESSAGE and EDIT TEXT MESSAGE. These open editors for the message body Teddy uses when it sends this specific agreement to a client outside of an intake form — for example, when you manually send a waiver link to a returning client.
These are not the same as the Auto Messages system. They're scoped to this specific agreement, and they only apply when the agreement is sent as a standalone link.
A good email body might read:
Hi {first_name},
We've updated our grooming policies for 2026. Please take a minute to review and sign the attached agreement before your next appointment with us.
Thanks, Teddy Grooming
A good text body is shorter:
Hi {first_name}, please take a sec to review and sign our updated grooming policy before your next visit: {link}. Thanks!
Both editors support the standard variable pills (store name, first name, link) so the message personalizes per client.
From the Agreements list, each row has an Edit agreement button (pencil icon). Tap it to open the same editor you used at creation time. Make your changes and hit Save.
Important caveat: editing an agreement updates the text that future clients will sign. Past signatures in Signed Agreements are not retroactively changed — they remain as snapshots of what the client actually agreed to at the time. This is a feature, not a bug: it means you have a defensible audit trail even if you revise the agreement later.
If you're making a substantial legal change (not just fixing a typo), the cleanest thing is to:
Create a new agreement with the new version (e.g. "Policies and Procedures 2026").
Attach the new one to your intake form instead of the old one.
Send the new one out via email/text to existing clients so they re-sign the updated terms.
Optionally delete the old one once every active client has signed the new version.
Each row in the Agreements list has a Delete agreement button. Tapping it removes the template. Past signatures in Signed Agreements remain — they just reference a template name that no longer has a live record behind it. Deletion is irreversible, so preview before deleting.
Tip: Always keep a plain-text backup of the body of each agreement in a separate doc or email. Editors get finicky, copy/paste can swallow formatting, and having a known-good backup makes it easy to roll back if you ever mangle the live version.
