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I don't feel that there is a "best breed" or "best combo" out there - if there was, what would be the point of having the other dogs?

The Houndmaster is drawn to help and work with the dogs they've got on a deep personal level, stemming from a bond they form. What's ideal? Ideal is the dog(s) they love and share companionship with. They may train dogs for the community on the basis of "best" for specific functions, but their personal dogs are going to be a mixed bag.

Even dropping the role-playing and looking at a pure stat point of view, it depends on what approach the Houndmaster is taking to the conflict. Are they doing tracking? S&R? Combat? Guard duty? Can't min-max without knowing the standard of excellence.

The "Ideal" dog is the one.
1) That's still alive
2) Not so feral that it's eating your face
3) Isn't sick.
4) the one you find that meets all the other categorys. It's not like you can ride down to pet smart and shop though dozens of dogs after the zombies start popping.. You have what ever dog the GM thinks you can find/have. And very few GMs are going to go "Sure have a Supersized Mastiff" you're much more likely to get a Dalmation from the house 3 streets over. lol

Then again some GM's let their players have what ever they want from the start. "My char bred attack trained mastifs for a living before the rise" or something, but if you're going with the spirit of the game, it's 'what ever you can find that's not trying to kill you'.