Love this image, Judy!! Perfectly captured - especially with the pouty bottom lip. As usual, I'm mystified by the score. Clearly I don't have my finger on the pulse here.
Meets Challenge: 1 of 3. Certainly a dark subject with a dark background, but this is basically just a poorly exposed photo. To me, low key is where the deep darks and the few bright highlights work together to describe the subject. That's not what this is.
Technical: 2 of 3. A good crop. Love the head tilt. Shame the camera focused on the nose and the eyes are a bit blurry.
Emotion: 2 of 3. My family had a dog when I was a kid, but it was a very active, hyper dog. I never had the chance to live with a cool, mellow dog like this one appears to be. I'm sure he's a joy to live with.
Awe: 0 of 1.