I realize makeup is needed to alter actors to make them look different from humans. I realize they need to look enough like us so we can identify with them. My mind will allow the "masks" to stand in for more believable aliens that might be invented at a future date.
Then of course there's the problem with suspended disbelief. I can only suspend it so far. This episode was genuinely laughable on that account.
The aliens in this episode had hair made of feathers easily identifiable as very common Earth fowl: ringnecked pheasant, peacock, guinea fowl, etc. I was distracted as I realized the "hair" of one of characters bears a remarkable resemblance to many of my craft projects.
Secondly, what the hell is a DOG doing in the Delta Quadrant? Nobody bothered to give the dog makeup or say it was some other creature. No. It is called a dog. It looks like a dog. It acts like a dog. The coup de grace to suspended disbelief comes when you realize this supposedly female dog has a rather large set of junk.
FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.