Holly,
first reaction based on personal knowledge is that it was just too hot to be shooting outdoors. There's no way you're going to get that tongue to stay in the puppy's mouth at 90 degrees and 90% humidity. I scrapped a Moxie portrait session this weekend for that reason.

These shots have good lighting and good focus but I'll bet it was a struggle since that puppy girl looks very busy. In case folks don't think that portrait work is "action photography" .

I'd suggest you shoot very early in the day or very late -- I'd opt for early since we're getting thunder storms as early as 10 in the morning and they tend to last pretty much into the evening. You might get a large fan and shoot in a place you can plug it in to create enough breeze to keep the dogs comfortable. Or, better yet, find an air-conditioned place indoors and use props to capture the dogs' personalities.

Jim