Originally Posted by
GrumpyDiver
I'll have to agree with Bobo. Any animal image like this should be looked at a bit like a portrait of a person. It's all about the face and it needs to be well lit. In this shot, the body seems to predominate and the head (regardless of how light or dark the face is) seems to have a secondary role.
Parents, pet owners, etc. see their loved one differently than total strangers. If you look at the shot as dispassionately as a stranger would, you will end up with a superior image.
I recently finished a photography course at the local community college, and this is something that struck the other class members. The parent or pet owner generally felt that the image of their loved ones were better than the other class members thought they were. Lesson learned; stick to the dispassionate and technical side and you will produced better images of loved ones.