Same comment applies to your redux:
What a sweet tribute to a great team -- you and Dixie. Black lab? I get very attached to my pets so much that they're like family.
Would make a great avatar pic as well.
There's a frank and no-nonsense quality to this style of painting. Goes straight to the point and makes the statement in the vocabulary of shape. Cool. Rather modern in the sound byte age. Journalism also thinks along these statements of facts for transferring quick information leaving interpretation to the viewer or reader.
"Not a bit is wasted and the best is yet to come. . ." -- remembered from a dream