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Hello, I am brand new to the photography world. I've always had an interest in photography but never had enough financial support to begin my hobby. I recently inherited a brand new Canon SLR and started shooting about 3 months ago. To-date, I fell as though this is my best photo taken. I am getting used to shooting in full manual mode and have learned a ton about ISO, Shutter Speeds, DOF, Metering, White Balancing etc. I would love to hear what I could have done better in this photo so that I may improve on future shots.

This Photo was taken with 1/15, ISO 200 F5.6 (flash not fired) Spot Metering and a flash light for the spot light. I shot it in RAW and adjusted the saturation and sharpness with use of the software that came with the camera.

Please critique

Yes, it's my Pug. I guess I still have a lot of homework to do if you were not able to make that out on your own. Hahaha! Oh well, thanks for your honesty )

You could have use some addition light to give it some impact.  Even a reflector to add more shadow details. You don't want the obvious question like massman just said, "what is it?".
If you wish to emphasize the rembrandt type lighting to get nice chiaroscuro of light and dark, you could work with your placement of addition bounce to get the texture off the dog's fur. Back lit to get some separation with a well adjusted rim light. Or else it just looks like another dog in the dark.
Furthermore, why did you choose to shoot at 1/15 for a dynamic subject. The dog may be sleeping but there is still the camera vibration that could blur the image.
Which is why I suggest additional ambient lighting so you could shoot at a faster speed. Even fill flash can add interest to the image. Then use photoshop to control how much of the dynamic range you want to pull out of this lighting .

You want to make the dog seem to be three dimensional and coming out of the dark. If you know what I mean.

Thanks for the follow up massman! I'm not only new to photography I’m new to this website as well. I will take your advise and post a crop going forward.

SalSanto,
I feel it's better that you shoot with more fill to get details in your shadow, so they don't block.
Don't worry if it looks too much on camera RAW. You can play with the variations in Photoshop.
Many times, I would have shot something final in rim lighting or profile lighting, only to wish I could have add more here, taken off there,etc..
Now, I shoot for as high as I can for the highlight without clipping, and fill as much for the shadows to get the subtle details without blocking.
Then I will play around with the highlight/shadows on Photoshop until I get as many variations as I want. If you shoot with a high res DSLR, you can end up with more than one final image but creative cropping.  Whereas if you just crop in and shoot with that restricting lighting , you end up with no variations. If the final shot fails, you have nothing.

Also, if you study the stage lighting of a good movie, there is shadow detail too. It's not just blocked shadows. It's not so apparent with your eyes, but if you study the lighting of the old masters of the movies like Cecil Beaton, you will see the dramatization take into consideration both highlight and shadow.

Oh no, I'm far from making a career out of this. I'm just loving photography as a recreational hobby. Thanks for the best wishes, regardless