There is exp related to pet pal. Like, 60% of a level before you leave the fort. Small spoilers (or not, if you've beat act 1).
For example: the dog outside the seeker cave - talk about his missing mate, then talk to his missing mate in the fortress (several thousand point exp hit IIRC). I think you also get a hit for convincing the source hound in a cage to leave and..... something else before leaving the fort.
That's not quite the same, but yeah.
