Ninja dogs are extremely useful in the Naruto universe for their tracking ability. Their sense of smell can detect a specific scent miles away from just one sample of blood or clothing. They can travel just as fast as most ninjas do, if not faster. Two main ninja dog users are Kakashi and Kiba, both from the Leaf Village, whose family specializes in training ninja dogs. Kakashi can summon a small group of ninja dogs led by Pakkun, a small dog with the ability to talk. Pakkun has assisted Naruto in several missions and was instrumental to track important targets. Kiba considers Akamaru, a white ninja dog, not as dog but as a partner; as a team, they specialize in using combination physical techniques.
The character Naruto made a pact with the frogs as his main summon. This pattern is rooted from Jiraiya, Naruto's teacher. Most of the frogs can talk and can grow extremely big; Gamabunta, Naruto's primary frog summon, is the size of a small mountain and can destroy a vast landscape with a single attack. Gamabunta mainly uses his sword to attack but can also use water and fire ninjutsu. The frogs also specialize in a particular fighting style called frog-kata: as of the 2011 Naruto Shippuden story arc, Naruto has adopted this fighting style as his own.
The protagonist summons in Naruto typically have a legendary or famed status of their own, separate from their contractual masters. The Third Hokage's summon is Enma, the Monkey King. Enma can transform himself into a fighting pole as hard as diamond -- the Third Hokage used this form in his fight against his student, Orochimaru. Tsunade, the Leaf Village's fifth Hokage, has a pact with Katsuyu, a slug. Around the same size as Gamabunta, Katsuyu specializes in defensive techniques. She can divide herself into smaller pieces at will and can also use healing ninjutsu; this was critical in keeping much of the Leaf Village's population alive during the village's destruction in the Naruto Shippuden storyline.
Most of the antagonist summons cannot or have not talked in the story but typically have special abilities as well. Pain can summon multiple animals such giant birds, dogs, and rhinos which could duplicate themselves at their own will. In one of the television exclusive story arcs, an unnamed clan had the ability to summon multiple bees -- similar to the Leaf Village's Aburame clan, which hosts bugs inside their bodies.