Hi Merrie,
I would go like if I was modeling a human beeing
(
http://www.ac3d.org/forum/viewtopic....467&highlight=).
It would be a plus if you could have a front and side picture of the animal, but anyway it's not that hard to guess how it looks like, and afterall has not to be 100% perfect.
Begin by extruding a box on the feet (modelize only one side of the animal, you will mirror it later), then extrude faces to modelize the leg ...
The hardest part is always modeling the head (well at least for me).