Thanks Angie!
Shading dog faces are the bane of my existence. Though I should just do some studies on my own dog since my personal character's species is the same as hers (German Shepherd).
But yeah I definitely came to void to improve on all fronts. The coloring part, I work on that all the time, on personal art, commissions and anything in between.
Oh, and @Cherubas,
Blending modes are kind of a crutch IMO. It's best to understand shading by doing it naturally (like say you're painting, do all your painting in one color layer) and once you get the hang of that, you can use blending modes (like multiply, screen, hard/soft light, etc) to your advantage.