I still have a ways to go, but these are better than yesterday

The border collie was stressed about the table AND the thunder. He does not like thunder at all.

Most of this is fine tuning. I have found that 1/160th is needed for handheld shooting to keep it sharp. 1/125 just has a bit too much softness, likely due to camera shake. I used the 50-200 between F7.1-F11 F8 seemed to work the best.

I moved the lights a touch here and there. I still have lots of fine tuning to do. But, things are working better than I hoped. I was really worried I wouldn't even be able to set them up

Julie
I use the AB400s at ISO 100, F8 and 1/200th. I set them up 10 feet from the subject and it's like clockwork. For black dogs, I might open up 1/2 a stop; for white dogs I might close down 1/2 stop but generally speaking, the manual settings work for almost every breed.

You should try shooting both on a tripod and hand-held. I find that hand-held works great when someone else is baiting the dog. A tripod is a better alternative when I have to bait and shoot as well.

BTW, the sweet spot on my lens is F8 so that's what I aim for when I set things up. If yours is F6.3 or F11, then that's what you should set up for.

One other thing, if you're working close to the table, you might want to put a small reflector in front of the table to kick back some light under the dog's chins.

Nice shots,

Jim