I suggest keeping the dog and adding it all your advertising. Make it your mascot.
That's exactly what I imagined when I saw the title; a startup testing/comparing the conversion rates of a dog mascot/logo. It goes hand-in-hand with establishing a memorable brand. I'd be really curious to see how the conversion rates are affected by a complete website/brand overhaul containing a dog mascot.
Not a dog, but my startup (tabuleapp.com) added a koala as our mascot, and our conversion rates more than doubled. We help college students organize homework, so the fun koala face helped differentiate us from most homework planners that just use a book as their logo.
If you ever plan opening in Poland, add a panda instead.
There's a known few years old meme now, featuring a panda and a number "3". It's a rebus that should be read as "panda 3", and understood as "pan da 3", which is a kind of impolite way of saying "sir, please give me a 3 (D grade)".
That's exactly what I imagined when I saw the title; a startup testing/comparing the conversion rates of a dog mascot/logo. It goes hand-in-hand with establishing a memorable brand. I'd be really curious to see how the conversion rates are affected by a complete website/brand overhaul containing a dog mascot.