This is one of those things up for debate, but I do think pets ought to be more reliable.

I mean, even with a bard if your pet gets poisoned it can turn on you quickly. And if the point of the class is to have powerful companions, then the game shouldn't make you afraid of having such pets. It's handicap enough that they are XP stealers IMO.

I'm not saying it shouldn't happen, but the triggers that make this happen could use a revision.