Hi all! I am new, and I am wondering if there's an "unofficial" HP guide or compilation of lesser known common practices; like, how do people feel about multiple foals from the same mare/stallion? And pairing? What are strategies to maximizing your pixel points during the week? 

If there isn't one, let this be a good place to start! :)

Amount of foals/pups is entirely up to you, though a lot of us tend to stick to 1 or 2, save for the odd twins.  Some breed a couple weeks before their actual breeding date for their final foal/pup so they can have a backup (to play it safe incase they miss their date and the animals retire - the backup either gets sold or deleted once final baby is born).

As for pairings, I always buy a store mate for my lined animal. If I'm starting from scratch (store x store) then I'd match up my highest pointed female with my lowest pointed male and so on. I'm sure others do highest fem x highest male etc.

I have nothing to share for points.. I train when life permits. As long as I get through my accounts before turnover, I'm happy lol

^{Pretty much echoing everything Apo said. I personally don't breed backups; I like to live life on the edge! :D My main line is the only line that I backup breed, the rest happen at 15. I keep the backups from my main line and merge them into other lines, being cautious not to inbreed.}

^{Pairings: I do exactly what Apo does!}

^{Maximising points: I enter private shows on my main line, and hand-pick unflooded public shows to make up the difference. Because of the sheer volume of my animals, I can't do this with all the rest.}

I think in general, most players max foals/pups out at 3 per pair, but mostly see just 1 or 2. I think this is really more of a not much demand for the pup/foals as there are so many amazing breeds to choose from, rather than a "we don't like this"? Most players try to get their animals to 1 million points by retirement which is very obtainable.

I just make sure to get on and enter my animals in their maximum 80 health (for breed specialty with upgrades) or 70 (for non breed specialty basics). Generally this even leaves some wiggle room for if you can't get on and train every so often, but to max out points, train weekly :).

If you can't get on to train yourself, there are many other players that will help and train for you!

Here's some unspoken HP etiquette! Keep in mind that HP is a really welcoming place; these are mostly just common practices/things that we as a community have kinda taken up to help keep things as drama-free as they are. That said, you play your own game! It's not fun if you're forcing yourself to play in a way that conforms to the norm but isn't what you wanna do; in the end, just be respectful of others and know that everybody plays their own way, and you're fine!

Now, in the order of whatever occurs to me:

If you buy a foal/pup from another player that's from their own personal lines (not from the breed embassy, although depending on the effort put into the embassy lines, this could apply too), try your best to at least train that baby well and keep that line going nicely. It shows respect for the original breeder ^^ Buying a baby from someone (especially a higher generation baby or a baby from a line that has high points, as both of these things mean the breeder put a lot of time and effort and resources into their animals and, by extension, the baby they're selling) only to let it sit and never train it and breed it at little more than the points it was born with isn't the nicest thing to do. Life happens, but try to keep it in mind! (If you realize you're not up for giving it the time/energy it's due, check to see if the breeder would like it back! Some would prefer to take the baby back and train it themselves than have a flop in their line's pedigree that they can't do anything about. And some don't mind at all!)

Most players try to get their animals to at least 1mil before breeding, but that's really up to you to breed when you want to - play how you wanna play! However, keep in mind that most players won't by into lines that don't meet that 1mil point bar, so selling babies that were bred before their parents hit 1mil will be pretty hard. But if you don't intend to breed for the public, go nuts! Do what you wanna do :D Back in my HL days, the most fun I had was breeding a massive pack of Border Collies just because I could lmao.

This one's kinda subjective, some people feel this way and some don't care. But if you buy a baby from another player that has a higher gen than any of the animals you've trained and bred yourself, it could be considered a little tacky to claim that you've reached the higher gen when you really didn't, you just bought it. For example, say you trained and bred two generations of Paints, then buy a fifth gen Paint from another player. Saying you've achieved five gens of Paints just because you got your hands on a fifth gen foal can be a little cringe (because there's a lot of time and commitment and resources that go into training each generation of animals; there's definitely a lot of respect for the higher generation animals because of that - it's also why higher gen animals are almost always exponentially more expensive).

And some advice: When your animals have "retired" and can't be trained anymore, there is an option to permanently retire them on their page. It functions like a Delete ability though, and most players prefer to keep their animals alive but on a retirement account. That way, they can go back and do retirement breedings if they want, and the animal is still a functional part of the game. I still smack myself every now and then when I go back in some of my lines and realize I retired my earliest gens, because for one reason or another I needed them back in-game lol.

For point gains, I've noticed there can be more points earned if you enter shows towards last half of the week, but not by a whole lot. It's definitely better to hand-train, going through each and every show and picking the ones with the least entrants. Hand-training like this can get you to 2mil points without the aid of private shows, but it's... exceedingly time-consuming and not at all worth it for me lmao.

Also, don't shirk those club shows! They award double points, so it's def worth putting your project critters in there if they have the energy to spare - but please don't flood them! General etiquette for club shows is no more than 2 of your own animals in each show (total, not just 2 of each of your breeds), so everybody has a better chance at more points. 

There's probably a lot more, but this is what I've got so far :P

These. Are. GREAT! It's helpful to get the "scoop" on how the vibe works for folks. Digging this thread, keep it up!

I absolutely will ditto what Mango said as far as to play how you want to play! Just because it is what "a lot, or most, players do" does not mean you have to do the same! I love that about this game and community. We are all so open and love new players joining! 

^{Mango coming in with the goods! I think gone are the days where players/animals were judged for their foals/points/lineage/practices etc.}

^{We're an encouraging and accepting community, eager to see each other succeed, and help out one another when we need it.}