I recently started up my Ranger character again after a hiatus while playing my staff and shield wizard. For the longest time, it had just been Jenassa and myself traversing Skyrim, but I finally ran across Meeko. Knowing that the dogs in the game can be kind of fragile, I decided to boost his defenses a bit. I took a set of fur armor (helmet, armor, gloves, boots) and added them to Meeko's inventory to give him a bit more durability. I also enchanted his "feet" with muffle so he'd be easier to sneak around with (hell, on of his main skills is Sneak!).
He stays in the fight much better now! I can always scale his AR by improving his "fur", too!
Good fun.
PS: Sorry, only possible PC players only.