I know human followers will take a knee when they get low on health and when they do enemies will no longer pursue them. Will dogs get the same treatment or is it a fight to the death? I'm considering having Michi take the dog outside Helgen as a follower.

I seem to recall Meeko being injured and the enemy leaving him alone. I know for a fact my wolf follower (mod) will take a knee but there is no skeleton animation for a wolf to show that it has. But it will stand there as the enemy turns from it and focuses primarily on me.

Thank you!

Funny how I think about this stuff when I'm away from the game and can't just try it for myself.

that's how it usually is

I tried to get Meeko killed ages ago after the children adopted him, in the end I had to give up and kill him myself, trolls, dragons, dawnguard, vampires, bandits he survived them all.

That sounds promising!

One of My earliest characters took the Stray Dog into Valthume, and the Stray actually kept a certain Dragon Priest stunlocked into a corner. The same fate happened to Otar, Krosis, and Raghot (Meeko took Raghot). Barbas aided a little in Volskygge, as Atronach bait.

The Stray just has a nasty habit of getting lost at Loading Screens. The Stray can cause a Player to not be able to recruit another "Pet".