Everyone keeps saying dogs. I hard disagree. Almost all dogs bark without needing to, giving positions away or false positives of foe, even well trained dogs are better but not so much so. They seem to be more resource drain than value.

I think goat, sheep, cow, horse, chickens, rabbits, donkeys maybe better than horses, camels maybe meh, are far superior for activities of all types like food generation, feed for live stock, produce, input vs output, compost, pelts/furs, usable materials to craft and build. Hunting and fishing are not novel concepts in which dogs excel paired with humans. Their main advantage is long running distance able to outwind deer and other species. Dogs are a high responsibility animal.

Hell a well trained larger cat species would be far hunting superior. Even a hawk, or any larger bird would be better than a dog. I suppose it depends on environment and conditions. Crows are good group workers.

First of all, your ideas about an eagle and wolf are pretty far-fetched

Unless you’re raising it from a puppy, at best what you’re realistically gonna find with a wolf is one (or more realistically a pack) that tolerates your presence and doesn’t actively view you as a threat or prey and sort of provides passive security by chasing things out of what it views as its own territory. The amount of time, effort, and resources (giving it food and such) to get much beyond that just isn’t going to be feasible in any kind of apocalypse scenario. If food gets scarce, you, your pets, and your livestock are absolutely going to be on its menu, and it’s probably not gonna be communicating with your dogs in any meaningful way beyond “I’m in heat, wanna fuck?”

Nor is an eagle going to be acting as a scout. You can probably watch its behavior for signs of threats that you didn’t notice, and maybe it will see you and your home as a source of safety and come back to you and refuse to leave if it sees a threat, but it’s not really gonna go out on patrol and actively warn you about what’s out there. They can be useful for hunting, but pretty much anyone who actually does any sort of falconry will tell you that every time they let their bird go, they’re really just hoping that it actually comes back and doesn’t just fuck off and they get to watch as all that time and effort they spent training it fly off into the sunset.

Dogs- absolutely, there’s good reason that we’ve been keeping dogs around since time immemorial.

Malinois is a solid breed, smart, strong, motivated, reasonably healthy and free of major health issues compared to a lot of breeds (like German shepherds,) smaller than some similar breeds so a bit easier to feed, and very trainable if you have the time and know-how. I have one myself, she’s a rare lazy malinois (which still makes her smarter and more energetic than most other dogs you’ve probably ever met) and she’s definitely got very strong herding, guardian, and protection instincts, they can also be serviceable tracking/detection dogs (police and such use them extensively for that,) my girl has even shown some rudimentary pointing instincts, and for not being a breed known for having a soft mouth (quite the opposite) she can be remarkably gentle and has carried some delicate objects around with her without breaking them, so she could do retrieving work as well.

So a pretty solid pick for a do-it-all breed if you can only pick one.

Ideally you probably would have multiple dogs to fill different roles, there’s a reason we have bred so many different types of dogs- livestock guardians, herding dogs, sight hounds, scent hounds, retrievers, etc. they all excel at different things.

And ideally you’d want enough to have stable breeding pools without too much inbreeding. This would be a lot to manage, especially if you’re also trying to train them to be useful, a large pack of untrained dogs is more of a liability than anything.

Your relationship with them is also going to be different than with a normal family pet, most of them aren’t going to be coming inside to sleep in bed with you at night, they’re going to be outside working, and in apocalypse scenario, probably turned loose to forage for themselves since you can’t just go to Walmart for a bag of kibble, and they’re probably going to be bonding more strongly with the other dogs than with you.

Cats are useful for pest control. Again, this isn’t gonna be your spoiled housecat who sleeps on your keyboard all day, this is gonna be more of an outdoor barn cat that probably wants little to nothing to do with you most of the time, but it’s gonna keep rodents and such in check.

Chickens, turkeys, etc. are a solid homesteading option, eggs, meat, feathers you could probably use for pillows, mattresses, insulation in clothing and quilts, possibly for arrow fletching if you have or can make a bow and arrows.

Goats and/or sheep for meat, milk, and wool, smaller and easier to care for than cows, and in many cases will do just fine foraging for food.

Probably worth throwing a couple donkeys in as well. They make decent livestock guardians and can be put to work as pack or draft animals if needed.

Rabbits are also a solid, fairly low-effort meat animal and of course have nice fur.

Beyond that, I can’t think of many other animals that would be particularly useful, desirable, or realistic to keep in a survival situation.

chickens and ducks

Other humans.
Seriously, we are a social animal for a reason. We have always existed in packs and are actually shit at surviving alone. We can do it for short stints and even some longer periods, but the work involved in gathering food and water, preparing meals, maintaining shelter, clothes, tools and everything else is immense. And then there is the whole issue of defense. We have archeological evidence of violent death going well back into the paleolithic era. You’re going to face packs of other people who want your stuff. No matter how good you think you are, you’re going to get overrun if you are alone. Your best defense is your own tribe.

So ya, if I’m alone in the woods when a nuclear apocalypse happens, I’m going to do my level best to find and integrate into some sort of larger social structure while there are hopefully enough not terrible people around to be able to survive the attempt.

Realistically, what you need is dogs, plural. There’s a reason almost every culture in the world has a history with them.

And a pack of them, breeding as you go, is going to be the best way to keep surviving because they can be trained to be guards, alarms, hunters, fighters, hot water bottles, and they can be food in a real emergency. That last one sucks to think about, but sacrificing one or two so that you and the pack can keep alive is just what you have to do.

Don’t get hung up by thinking a given breed is ideal, because it won’t be generalist enough. You just get medium size and large-ish dogs, and train the succeeding generations as best fits their abilities rather than trying to breed for specific jobs.

Dogs are also imminently personable. You’ll be alone, or not able to trust other humans. Having animals that can fulfill our social needs is vital, and dogs are our best option for that long term, in a survival situation.

Now, if the apocalypse is a bit less dangerous daily, keeping a population of chickens, and goats is a good idea. They’ll serve as alarms easily, and can be food or food producers. They’re both easy to tame as well, if you start young.

T rex. Koala for levity.

one thousand crows

I’d go for the best dog there is, the Azores Cattle Dog.

Well rounded for guard work, defense, herding and hunting, both on sight and track by scent. Loyal to the death and relentless fighters when push comes to shove. Love the outdoors but will gladly take a comfy spot inside.

I’d also work on taming birds. Corvids, if available, but any song bird is a good investment. Song birds going silent is a good warning sign something is wrong nearby.

If boars are available, having them patrol around my perimeter would be a plus. The animals are fiercely territorial and will attack if cornered or feeling threatened.

One word: owlbears.

A dog is a great choice, but I’d get some kind of mutt. Some Labrador, German Shepherd and grizzly bear mixed in for flavour.

Hungry bears. Just gotta make sure they can’t get me!

A few friendly-to-me death claws, no question.

Chester

I’ve got my heeler, and I’d probably grab a few more dogs from the shelter I work at. Then I’d do some Disney princess shit and try befriend all the local animals around my cabin

Definitely a couple of humans.