Bulldog Brewery

I was asked to create an image similar to this one, but using the client's dog (an American Bulldog) and her color scheme: 

The first thing I had to do was decide on a background.  I found one I really liked:

It has great texture and the perfect colors I was looking for.  However, it is owned by Maik Schneider, and I want this to be all my own.  So, I went into Photoshop and played around with the new textured brushes using the two colors I needed.  It turned out too rough looking, so I used the smudge tool to smooth it out:

Then I used this great filter called Alien Skin and applied a canvas texture:

It still didn't have the texture I wanted, so I went to this site called Morgue Files and found a photo I could use to add some texture:

I reduced the opacity to 25% and the blending mode to Overlay.  And here is what I ended up with:

Yes, I know it's not close to what I was looking for, but that's the point, right?  I want this to be my own work, so I used the other image for inspiration.  And I like this one better--

it has great texture, but the texture won't overwhelm the rest of the image, 

whereas the first one had those large-ish yellow marks.

Now, for the main image...