I do like this smoother style, and it's good that you're experimenting. Even if you don't like the result, trying it out's always fun! Although I said I liked the smoothness, I think this image would look better with more fur texture - her outline indicates that she's got thick fur, so making the shading reflect this would make the image look even better. The shading you've got is very good - it's in all the right places and the gradienting is fine - but it would look better on a short-haired animal like a horse.