I am not good at b/w so I will just give my general impressions -
I think it is good picture. I am not sure b/w works for this one though. There is too much black on top left and too much white top right but aside from that it looks good go me. B/W would add to this problem.
Maybe curves or highlight/shadows to get some detail in white fur.
The back ground on the left is distracting and as Scott pointed out, the white on the upper right is losing detail. The face itself is very nicely done. Solution, crop closer to the face on the left and a bit on the right. If you shot it in raw, you might be able to bring out more detail in the whites...
I do usually shoot in raw, but for whatever reason couldn't find the file. Might be on my laptop. Anyways, I gave your suggestions a go. What do you think?
A photo is like a good story -- get rid of the extraneous and enhance the point you are trying to make. The detail in the face is really nice. You shot with just enough DOF so that the nose was not distractingly OOF.
