Okay, here's "brutal"......sorry.
To me they are "snaps" and not "portraits"....simply just everyday snaps. I suspect that you think the same and that's why you've asked for criticism.
I have a similar problem in that I'm not very artistic and that's something that is hard to learn. I avoid landscapes and portraits for this very reason and take macro, wildlife and alike so that I get some satisfaction from the more technical side of the shot. My wife who is techno-phobic, but very artistic, takes lovely portraits and landscapes and I'm left admiring the shot but being critical of the technical aspects.
However.....
All is not lost. You have the camera and the rest of your life to get it right. Do not be despondant. Pour through a heap of glossy magazines and choose the shots that appeal to you and that you have the options to re-create...ie, find some shots of dogs and then re-take your friends dog in a manner similar to the ones you like from the magazine. You've now got the composition you want but may need to improve on the technical aspects....that's just time I'm afraid.
My shots end up with comments like..."nice and sharp", "good capture", etc etc but then have the dreaded "but's" on the end...the framing or angle of view....the artistic failure in other words.
Some of us are photographers, some of us are artists....the lucky ones are both.
Bob