Ready to add an animal to Best In Show? Here's how:

1. Click Add an animal on your dashboard.
2. Start typing in Animal or breed and pick one entry. A breed records its species automatically - Labrador (Dog), Arabian (Horse) - and a species on its own is fine for animals with no breeds to pick.
3. Enter the animal's name and the basics: color, gender, year born, and any details.
4. Click Save Animal.

That's it! Your animal now has its own profile page. On the free Hobbyist plan a storefront can own up to 3 animals; Pro and Team have no limit. Ancestors you add while building pedigrees never count against the limit.

Every animal gets its own permanent page at thebestin.show/animals/its-handle/, organized into tabs:

• Overview - the animal's story and details, plus previews of its pedigree and offspring, its health test results, and any recorded titles and show wins.
• Titles and Health - shortcuts to those sections of the Overview.
• Pedigree - the family tree. See the Pedigrees help page.
• Photos - all photos the animal is tagged in.
• Links - videos and media the animal is tagged in.
• Updates - recent activity involving the animal.

If the animal has an active availability listing, visitors see it on the profile along with a way to inquire.

The animal's web address never changes - even if the animal is later transferred to another storefront, links to its page keep working.

If your storefront manages an animal, the Edit button on its profile opens the management hub. From there you can update the animal's details and jump to every related tool - pedigree editing, health tests, titles, photos, and listings. Notable fields:

• Story / description - a longer write-up about personality, accomplishments, or history.
• Registry details - association and registration number.
• Exact birth date - month and day, if you know more than the year.
• "We bred this animal" - marks your storefront as the animal's breeder. This credit is permanent: if the animal is later transferred, it still appears in your storefront's Animals we've bred section.

There are two ways to set an animal's profile photo:

1. Upload directly - click the camera icon on the avatar on the animal's profile page.
2. Use a tagged photo - open any photo the animal is tagged in and choose Set as profile photo.

The profile photo follows the animal everywhere - search results, pedigree trees, listings, and storefront grids. The cover photo is the wide banner at the top of the profile; set it the same way via the camera icon in the cover area. Both support cropping.

Animal profiles are public by default so buyers and fellow breeders can find them. If you'd rather keep one private, check Hide this animal in the edit page's Visibility section. A hidden animal:

• Is invisible to visitors - its page, photos, and listings no longer appear publicly.
• Stays fully visible and editable for you and your storefront's members.

Uncheck the box anytime to make the profile public again.

The My Animals page lists every animal your storefront manages, in two groups:

• Owned animals - the animals in your program. These appear on your storefront and count toward your plan's animal limit.
• Pedigree ancestors - profiles you created while building family trees. They don't appear on your storefront or count toward your limit. If you acquire one for real, see Transfers & Claims.

You can delete an animal from the bottom of its edit page. Deleting is permanent:

• The animal's profile is removed entirely.
• All pedigree links (parent and offspring connections) are removed.
• Photos and links the animal was tagged in remain on the site, but the tag is removed.

If the animal has simply moved to a new home, don't delete it - transfer it instead so its pedigree and history stay intact. And if you just want it out of public view, hide it (see Visibility above).