Forgive me for adding another poll (because I know you guys are sick of these), but I'm just curious on whether people would like a dog companion. Since both Arcanum and Fallout had dogs as companion, I figure, why not stick with tradition and add dog companion in this game? The dog's class doesn't have to be unique, so he could a slightly modified version of the fighter class that would fit dogs. For example, the dog would have "headbutt" instead of "shield bash", but both skills could be exactly the same damage-wise.
Obviously, a dog companion won't have as much character development as the other companions, but he could react to certain situations and you could makes some funny banters with the dog (similar to the dog in Dragon Age Origin).