black background can be anything and does not matter if it is creased etc, the key is to get the distance between the subject and the background large enough so the light does not shine bright onto the background, this then gives you a nice black background and a well exposed model (dog)
you need to get used to working in full manual mode too ... its not scary, honest, is very easy if you are using flash
what camera / lens setup are you using, and what do you want to do ?
I can recommend the stable imaging setup, as its the one I have and its a great kit, not expensive and should last for a long while, I've shot loads of portraits for work, and a good number of dog photoshoots either for me or collegues etc and its been great, you will need something to trigger it though, either the cable that comes with it (not so good if theres dogs about to trip on it) or some ebay radio triggers to make it flash without having it plugged into your camera
for a white dog, you can use a white background and get good results, you just need to me more carefull / experiment with the lighting
welcome to a very fun world
Phil
