I have very limited personal experience of operating dog in a situation roughly comparable to combat but, as for me, it’s not really much you can do after having dog unleashed.
From my experience with police attack dogs, this isn’t really true. Dogs are great at following commands, and can at times be recalled with a whistle. Of course, it depends on the level of training of the dog. I think a “possible” recall command depending on resolve or other stat would work.
As for dogs just being a distraction, that’s not really true, either — in just about every time period, dogs are often able to take down and kill human prey. Not always — but often.
