These were shot really close with an 18mm lens... the distortion on the tongues is ridiculous, unless you are trying to make it funny and cartoon like. Shooting in a vertical format would have allowed for no body parts cropping. At least they are sharp and in focus, since wideangle lenses have such a phenomenal DOF!
EDIT: DONT use a wideangle lens for portraiture (and these are portraits) unless you are trying to turn the subject into a cartoon! Not flattering at all!
Just because I want to be taking better photos in the future, could you point out what you mean by distortion on the tongues? The photos were taken with an 18-55 Canon kit lens, and at least the one of the golden was a couple feet out. I'm having a hard time picking out what might qualify as distortion and what doesn't and would appreciate some clarification. Is it that their tongues are too long? Because at least in the case of the australian, that dog had one long tongue!
I think they would have worked better in portrait mode rather than landscape but ... just my tuppence worth, I might be completely wrong!
These were both shot in Av mode on the T3i, that camera will never see the use of a creative mode

I'm still learning the camera (obviously), but I know I'll end up a better photographer if I just stick to the Av, Tv, and full manual modes.
Toga