Jim,
sounds like things went very well. Congrats on all the positives. You will continue to learn how to do things differently at each event you shoot so don't be too surprised that the actual experience was a bit different than you had imagined.

You might consider something to raise the dogs up in addition to finding ways to preserve your knees (after 5 knee surgeries, I tend to think of this kinda stuff first ). Like maybe an overstuffed chair that the dogs would be comfortable sitting in over which you drape the backdrop. That way you could sit and shoot.

On-site proofing sounds better than it is in reality. Unless your faithful assistant can handle that task and you have a third assistant to help with the animals, it simply isn't worth the time you lose. Plus, you really can't do any editing. Since I shoot RAW, I like to work on all the proofs. That's why I don't do on-site any more. I either post or mail.

We have a couple of different rolls of rubber-backed indoor/outdoor carpeting that we drag with us to events to make sure we have a floor area that is non-slip. They're cheap at Lowes or Home Depot. Get them 10X10. They store well in the garage.

As for pricing, often you have to see what the event can handle and price it from there. That's how you learn what the market will bear.

As for what the customer picks, I don't let them select the proofs but I do let them select the final prints. That's the advantage of off-line proofing -- you can weed out the images that are technically not what you want to have represent your work. Beyond that, yup, folks have their own impression of what a good picture is and they're always right .

Congratulations of surviving and it sounds like you actually enjoyed it. That's important too.

Jim