A system for generating whole body poses includes: a body regression module configured to generate a first pose of a body of an animal in an input image by regressing from a stored body anchor pose; a face regression module configured to generate a second pose of a face of the animal in the input image by regressing from a stored face anchor pose; an extremity regression module configured to generate a third pose of an extremity of the animal in the input image by regressing from a stored extremity anchor pose; and a pose module configured to generate a whole body pose of the animal in the input image based on the first pose, the second pose, and the third pose.