Crusader ponies and zombie bears are more like projectiles than pets.
I think Blizzard's (new? 2.1.2?) philosophy is "Pets are cool. It's cool if pets make up significant part (majority?) of your DPS. But they should not be your only source of DPS. Or at least, you should be actively working to support/buff/coordinate with your pets. Not run away from them."
However, I've not really played witch doctor in 2.1 so I don't know how their current design philosophy stacks up to how Sentry DH is currently being played.
I think Blizzard's (new? 2.1.2?) philosophy is "Pets are cool. It's cool if pets make up significant part (majority?) of your DPS. But they should not be your only source of DPS. Or at least, you should be actively working to support/buff/coordinate with your pets. Not run away from them."
However, I've not really played witch doctor in 2.1 so I don't know how their current design philosophy stacks up to how Sentry DH is currently being played.