Cute photo, but very snapshotty looking. your angle to the subject isn't very interesting - I think it would have been much better if you were down on the floor on eye level with the dog. The flash too strong and the cabinet is distracting. Please don't be offended by my comments, just trying to help.
Max is a cutie. I think a close up of him -- where his face filled the whole frame -- with the yellow toy would have been great. But I think there's too much going on in this photo for it to do well. I think people also like to see the eyes of animals and other people. Hope I'm wrong. :)
I had a black dog and I think every picture I have of him (Jack was his name) is either exposed for his body with everything else over exposed (like this seems to be) or everything looked ok except Jack who appeared to be a dog shaped black hole. Good luck with Max.
Max looks very cute and i'm sure he loves his toy. I think you could take a more compelling and flattering picture of him by getting down low to his level and comosing him straight on to catch more of his personality. Use a less cluttered room as well to focus on Max and his toy without the added distractions