Scratch has saved the day a bunch of times, coming clutch with the help action.

I find that summons and such make sense, because with them you can magic them away at the last moment, so mechanics like that are good. If if they lose the last hp, and Aylin type thing +1 hp, they yelp and dart off camera. Exit stage left back to safety. Spells like dominate beast are kinda not my favs, charm and animal friendship sound better, mechanically I like the warg angle from GoT or the idea of archtypal spirit animals, but which don't have permanent vfx and battle armor, but just sorta look normal and have the normal coats.

Magic mirror for the doggos would be cool portal hehe

[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]