Thanks for the comments; the owner helped corral the dog a little. I did use a variety of noise makers for this shoot and they worked well.

I admit liking number 2, also; there is just something special about low-key black backgrounds. I need to get a full-length black background, this one is a photek 5X6 backdrop for head shots that resides on a single lightstand/tripod with a single top bar and a bottom bar.

I also learned on this shoot the difficulities of photographing male dogs, it is not so easy to pose them to hide the offending appendage. I know it is possible to hide it behind one of the front legs but it is not so easy to pose the dog and have him stay in that position. Of course, I am working with untrained dogs that do not "stay on command".

I wonder, would it be better to turn off the modeling lights so that the dogs did not feel the "shoot area" was the "target area". I noticed the past two dogs were not happy about being in the spotlight, they did not seem to mind the flash, just did not like the bright lights. I do not need the modeling lights as I have overhead lights to provide ambient light the room (but the ambinet light would not factor into the exposure at the shutter speed/apetures I am shooting at, I could use them and not use the modeling lights). Any thoughts?