How to Draw a Dog/Puppy (simplified)

Hello everyone! When I get bored, I like to doodle, and this particular doodle I decided to document for some reason. I'm planning on making a more detailed dog/puppy later on, but for now, this is a nice thing to start with. It is a very simple sketch, but perfect for warming up and practicing anatomy/shading techniques. It's so simple, almost anyone can do it!

Note: the pictures aren't of the best quality due to being taken with a cheap phone camera, but at the time I drew it, using my SLR wouldn't have been very conventional.

The things you will need are:

Paper (any kind you can comfortably draw on)
A no. 2 school pencil (HB for the more art savvy of you)
A 2B pencil (preferably mechanical)
A wite-out (optional, but helps)

The Sketch

I don't usually do basic shapes, but many people find it hard to do without, so here it is. Start with either the head or the shoulder. I drew the head a little too big, so I had to erase and re-draw it, which is why it looks a little different in the second picture.

Hey, It's a Dog!

Now we can place some of the major features of the dog, such as the eye, nose, ear, and toes.

Refining the Edges

At this point I realized that the dog looked a lot like an Akita inu or a Sheba inu, so I curled the tail up. In the basic shapes, a curly tail would be a circle. Erase the basic shapes. Outline the markings.

Start Filling It In

Going with the flow of fur, roughly shade the dog in. Add a shadow on the ground under the dog.

More Details

Once you've got an idea of where your shading is going, fill it in better with a sharper pencil and be a bit more careful with the neatness of the fur.

Even More Details

Get out your 2B mechanical pencil and draw individual short strokes going with the fur.

Wite-out: Finishing Up

Test the wite-out on a separate sheet of paper or in a corner to make sure you're getting a consistent flow as well as a feel for how hard you'll need to push. Draw some highlights with the wite-out and use it to enhance the whites. Go over some of the highlights with your 2B pencil until you are satisfied with the look.

If you draw this, please feel free to show it off in comments. Have fun and keep on makin'!