Re-worked most of the issues except for the blow outs... that's next..
Better?

I think this is much better than the last one (even though the last one was good) This one has a better colour and the position of the puppy is better too. Good job!

Mike,

Nice re-work - a much stronger photo all around - congrats!

Best,
Jon

love this!

Thanks for all the comments.
couldn't make it stronger without your comments!

I knew it was a good image, just had to find the right balance!

I agree that this is better, I still wish you had burned the face a bit more. Do you use dodge and/or burn brushes or perhaps layer masks?

love the emotion this photo communicates!! Excellent job!

Beamer,

A burn on the face may lift this a bit.
What i had done.
Run through a noise removal script.
Set the noise removal to be as high as possible without loosing details.
I then duplicated the layer and ran a bw film simulation script.
Adjusted contrast and curve on the BW layer.
I then set it to overlay with a value of about 50% or so.

Straightened the verticals, cropped and posted.

So yes i probably could burn a bit to add some emphasis.

Thanks for the comment Noah!