Petz Life

This is a heavy wip thread - I'm just going to write down my showing tips while I think of them, then I'll edit later.

General

• If a pet is aligned but doesn't look quite right, try reopening the game and trying again. This resets the fuzz pattern. It's a very, very slight difference, but sometimes it can improve the overall appearance of the pose [Check if restoring colours does the same]
• Restoring colours refreshes balls - do this if a ball is rolling over another one in an unwanted way - e.g. eyebrows
• Scales and body part combos change alignment and pose. The most common example of this is dali mixes often pose with toes that are 1px back, instead of the PB even toes. It also applies to all other body parts, especially noses and tails - some scales can't do heart nose in dali pose, some tails won't look quite as curved. This is not something that can be fixed by using a different frame, so it should not be marked down [Add examples here]
• Assuming your pose is mostly correct, most judges will value alignment over anything else because alignment is the one element you can control about the pet's pose (other than selecting the frame, but the appearance of the frames are dependant on alignment). Unless something else is wrong with a pose, correct alignment will usually do better than incorrect alignment. This is especially important for dane poses - correct alignment with a slightly less nice head will usually place better than incorrect alignment with a nicer head!
• If you double click in front of a pet, it resets their animation. Use this to stop them doing tricks and whatnot while you're trying to pose
• There are only three weights - skinny, normal, fat. There is no difference in pose between weight 50, 60, and 75

Cats

• For calico legs, I would expect to see 2 or 3 pixels of the far foot peeking out from behind the back of the front foot. The amount varies - presumably it depends on fuzz. [Add some examples here]
• Chinchis have three different natural eyelids - sleepy, worried, and flat. Flat occurs if you double click reset them. To my knowledge, there isn't a general preference for which. Personally, I rate sleepy higher because it's unique to the breed, so I think it gives them more character.
• Chinchis have two alignments that are commonly shown. Judges have their own preferences for which they like more, but personally I've got similar placements with both versions [Add photo here]
• Cats can skinny pose, but it's very hard to spot
• If posing an alley mix, make sure you reset their weight after petting them. Weight 0 may look fine for full alley parts, but it throws alignment off for mixes

Dogs

• Some dogs can't do heart nose in dali pose due to scales. Personally, I just show them in dane when this happens - however, if you wanted to show in dali, you could add a note saying 'due to scales, this dog cannot do heart nose'
• The vast majority of the time, a dog can only do even toes or 1px back for alignment. If you get one of these, it's probably correct
• Labs have two alignments - even toes, or 2/3 px back. 2/3 pixels back is wrist alignment for them. Judges have their own preference for which they prefer. Personally, I like wrist alignment more
• However, that being said, lab mixes may be able to get wrist alignment on even toes!