Dog portrait progress

I am so excited to have started working on the second dog! While the coat color is different than the lab, it does provides me with the opportunity to apply a different technique to recreate the fur thus avoiding monotony.
 The texture and pattern on the sofa will probably be the most challenging aspect of this piece so I reserve that for last. I have included the reference photo so that you can see the transformation of the "flash eye" effect that ruins so many pet photos. I did use a few other reference photos of the dog that were taken outside in natural light (showing much better eye detail) to help me capture the likeness of his eyes.