Wolves were a nice idea that was never fully developed. If we're going to have "companion" mobs, it would be nice if we could do things like give them orders. I would love the option of being able to set "waypoints" for a pack of wolves to patrol outside my house, killing anything that gets near. Mechanics like that would go a long way toward improving the game, I think.
While I get that Mojang doesn't want to screw up the balance of the game, I think there should be rewards for playing well and accomplishing feats like taming a pack of wolves. Especially if there are going to be boss mobs and other things to ramp up the difficulty, there should also be ways to expand your arsenal beyond swords, arrows, and the rather stupid wolves.
Hell, why not have different kinds of arrows? Poison arrows, flaming arrows, water arrows, etc. (I know you can make a flaming arrow by shooting through lava, but that's not quite the same.)