Arelith

As you level as a ranger, and I guess also druid, your animal companion becomes less able to survive PvE, having not many ways to buff AC as well as less than ideal AI. This could be remedied by allowing the ranger/druid to -guard the animal companion as one can another player character. This would also make other companions than the dire wolf and the bear become viable, such as the panther for flanking and the hawk for disarm attempts.

In RP terms it would give some weight to the partnership between man and beast, as it were.

Denied.