clear photos

[JDFlood]

This is sort of embedded in some comments. The higher the telephoto the smaller the depth of field, hence the praise above for the 35mm. You wouldn't believe the 14mm! To summarize, much shorter focal length... Try 50mm, get closer, f8 will further increase the depth of field and make 1/125 plenty fast. If those are not sharp then something is broke. JD

 

[cynicaster]

I can attest that becoming acquainted with the "sweet spots" in lenses--especially entry-level ones--can greatly improve your results. After experimenting with it, I'm a total believer; cheap lenses really degrade at their extremes of focal length and aperture. Different products have different idiosyncrasies, but in lieu of direct experience or feedback from users of the same lens, I'd try to stick with "half of full zoom" for focal length and somewhere between f/8-f/11 for aperture, unless very specific circumstances dictated otherwise.

Believe me, I love to rock the telephoto, hiding off on the sidelines capturing candid moments. But if your goal is to capture a nice sharp image of your dogs, and you're outside in a wide open yard in which you're free to move anywhere, there is absolutely no good reason for you to be using either extreme of focal length on a zoom lens. Put it at the sweet spot and do the rest with your feet. Or, better yet, get yourself a prime and save the telephoto for your nephew's soccer game.

With all that out of the way, I agree with what others have already said--your shutter speed was too slow by a factor of 3-4.

do you understand depth of field? do you know how to sharpen in post? have you tried using a flash?

those three questions will help you improve your photos

understanding dof will let you get sharper photos (try f11 or f8 -- f22 will be softer, do you know why?)

most photos benefit from some sharpening in post

lastly, i you use flash the action will freeze at 1/1000 a second (or whatever a flash fires at)

and with that last point: subject matters. dogs and babies will freak if flashed

Flashes are great for freezing motion, but they're probably not the answer for improving the posted photo which depicted dogs outside in broad daylight.