My party takes a lot of extra damage in encounters with both animals and people. We'll just absorb animal attacks while focusing on their handlers in the hope that killing them will cause the critters to disengage.
I am playing Kirby: Forgotten Land and the puppy enemies are everywhere but I don’t want to kill them. Sometimes, they are asleep and I just leave them alone.
Now this makes me want a mod where you can hogtie the dog, bring it to camp, and slowly let it acclimate until it becomes a friendly and helpful companion