Their AI is bad, so you can't make them good without making them overpowered. They only last a short while in combat, though, and are generally best used for flavour in RP.
My suggestion to you: Give your summons, companions, familiars, etc. buffs, and they will be buff. Yes, they can hurt lycans and undead, but only if you spend spell slots for immunity meta. I was always able to spare the spellslots for my panther companion, even though my character is a multiclass caster. I'd be happy to give private advice on this (what spells to use etc.) and my character would gladly impart her knowledge to yours as she is a beastfriend. Otherwise, they block people in dangerous places, they trigger AoOs and die, giving enemies free full AB attacks on their primary target through Cleave, and they cost a lot to resurrect. They are just animals with a connection to their master, there's nothing special about them unless you magic them up.