Use the right photo for the feature

Breed scan and mood scan use dog photos differently. For likely breed matches, a full-body or mostly full-body photo usually gives the app more visual cues. For a visual mood hint, a clear face and upper-body view is often more useful.

Neither photo flow can see the whole dog story. A visual mood hint is not an emotion certainty, and likely breed matches are not ancestry testing.

Better photo conditions

  • Use natural, even light when possible.
  • Keep one dog clearly visible in the frame.
  • Avoid heavy filters, motion blur, and dark backlighting.
  • For breed matching, include body shape, legs, tail, coat, and head if possible.
  • For mood hints, avoid extreme crops that remove posture and context.

What can confuse photo reads

  • Puppy age, coat trim, wet fur, harnesses, costumes, or heavy shadows.
  • Mixed ancestry or similar-looking breeds.
  • A dog lying in an unusual shape or turning away from the camera.
  • Human hands, furniture, leashes, or other pets covering key features.
  • A still image that misses sound, motion, recent events, and recovery.

How to compare breed scan and lookup

If a scan returns several close likely breed matches, use the breed lookup as background reading. Compare size, coat, family, grooming, exercise, and trainability notes, but keep the individual dog first.

A close visual match can be useful for curiosity and planning questions. It should not decide personality, safety, suitability, or health expectations by itself.

How to use a visual mood hint

A visual mood hint can help you pause and look more carefully. If the hint leans tense, low, upbeat, relaxed, or uncertain, check the dog's body, breathing, movement, tail carriage, ears, and what happened before the photo.

If the hint does not match the real moment, trust the real dog and setting over the photo result.

When to retake or stop

  • Retake if the photo is blurry, backlit, cropped, or includes several dogs.
  • Stop if taking photos makes the dog avoid you or move away.
  • Do not stage a stressful situation just to get a clearer read.
  • Contact a veterinarian for pain signs, sudden changes, collapse, repeated vomiting, or other urgent health concerns.
  • Ask a qualified behavior professional when fear, panic, or safety concerns are part of the pattern.