I feel like there’s probably a middle ground that can be reached.
Like, instead of the eagle, you can call a pet and have it function normally for the sake of MM having their pocket tank, then have an ability to toggle them into “scout” mode, which causes them to vanish and start acting the way the eagle would, with them popping in and do their thing when appropriate (with divebombs for flyers, or a charging animation for grounded pets).
It’d presumably need to be tuned in such a way that “just have a pet out” isn’t the optimal play. Maybe a damage penalty when your pet is in “normal mode” similar to how Defensive Stance reduces the damage of non-Prot Warriors.
Of course, this is just 4AM spitballing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ All else aside, I’m very happy to see we’re getting the ability to change pet specs again.