Hi Tiff. Chinese Crested? I just googled to be sure and see there are lots of nice pictures of the breed in various settings, some fun like the bathtub, and even one doing agility, LOL. I love pets as a subject because they'll go anywhere and do anything yet you won't hear any complaints from them if the session gets long or you have to reshoot. Just use your imagination - and oh yes, keep your camera with you a lot. Go somewhere fun with your dog and start shooting.
Personally, I like to use natural light as much as possible to avoid eye glare and overexposure, ie too much brightness. (This could be important to you somewhat where your dog has skin and not fur - not really sure.)
If using a flash indoors, it's best to somehow "diffuse" the flash so it's not as harsh to the picture or shining in the pets eyes. Someone recently suggested putting a tissue over the flash. I also saw something recently to fashion an old plastic film container to fit over the flash (when it's up) to diffuse or soften it (something I'm going to try myself and keep in my camera bag). If you have an external flash you can point it upward and not right at the subject.
And remember basic
compositional skills. Filling the frame makes for really nice pictures, especially if the background is visually uninteresting or distracting. You don't have to get the whole pet in every picture, either. Look back over some pictures on this thread - you might see just a head or an eye, etc. Your dog seems to have great facial expressions, see what you can do to capture some of them. And be sure to post them here so we can enjoy them, too.
Have fun!
I did a bit of processing in Lightroom, and yes, I shoot in RAW. 
