I'm playing a Lvl 5 druid in our 3.5 campaign in a party consisting of Ftr 2/Pal 3, Rog 1/Ftr 1/Ranger 3, Rogue 3/Barbarian 2, and Sorc 5.

I'm the primary divine caster and generally the primary blaster/buffer/summoner as well, as the sorcerer is low on XP and generally levels up lower than us; couple that with being a level behind for getting new spells and having a very limited spell selection and he's basically a full spell level behind.

Thus, my animal companion is a riding dog and its designed to be a defensive tank to play point defense as I cast spells, as my party members like to charge into melee and leave the back rank somewhat naked. As I've levelled up I thought about trading it in for a leopard or ape, but the gains with the higher level options are more than offset by the loss of defensive capability (better saves, better dex stat, evasion and devotion) granted by the higher hit dice the starting animal companions get.

Here comes the question:

As 6th level rolls around and the dog gets another feat, what should I be looking at? What sort of equipment should I consider? I am more considered about defensive capabilities than increasing damage. A minor consideration is increasing stealth and mobility to provide support on scouting runs now that I can wildshape.

At 6th level, the dog should have ~45 HP and AC 23 (10 + 2 leather armor + 3 dex + 8 nat armor). Fort and Ref saves are good, will is poor (except vs enchantments, where devotion gives +4!).

Alertness, Track, Combat Reflexes (gained at 3 HD)

My thought was Iron Will to help that poor will save (although I don't know if Devotion is good enough...) or maybe Blind Fighting (we recently got jumped with a Darkness effect, and it wasn't pretty -- couple that with a lack of casters in the group to provide Dispel Magic or Daylight spells and it could be ugly in the future!)? Perhaps investing in some magic leather armor +1 and a Collar of Protection +1 to boost the saves. Any ideas?

Thanks!

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