Hunting with the dog

I just tried hunting rabbits with the dog. The dog would walk VERY slowly towards the rabbit while the rabbit slowly hopped away. I watched this for a while and the dog never attacked it. Does the dog ever attack it? I am not sure what the point of this is because it makes it a lot harder to shoot the rabbit with an arrow since it is always moving.

with Theresa, the dog hunts (can hunt) straight away

but as Henry, it takes a while for you to get enough XP to have your dog hunt (perk). Before the perk, found the dog to be a pain in the back while hunting rabbits (doesn’t attack but prompts rabbits to move)

If I’m candid, I enjoy(ed) the rabbit hunting but as someone who has had a whippet (stone cold canine speedster and rabbit killer) don’t find the pursuit animations to be that great