Can Mercenary Warbands take Wardogs?

Hi guys. The question is in the title, can mercenary warbands take Wardogs? I'm just looking for a little clarity here. I understand witch hunters can take them as henchmen(?) but can a mercenary warband take them upon initial creation as a miscellaneous item? I'm thinking of having a Captain with a bitch or two if I can for flavour. I'm a little muddy with my understanding of the rules and have tried searching the forum for an answer but my search-fu is poor. Thanks in advance for any help offered.

No, you can't buy equipment when first creating your warband unless it's specifically on the starting list. Wardogs (for non-witch hunters) are also a rare item, so you'd have to search for them in the after-battle sequence - they wouldn't be guaranteed.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I obviously need to pay more attention when reading through the rules! Makes me sad that my Captain won't be having any puppies now.

Just make them the first things you search for after each game. If you're playing conservatively with your heroes and getting 4-6 rare rolls a game it shouldn't be hard to get a pair of dogs after 2-3 games (I've actually done this with two warbands that I'm currently running)

Food for thought! Thanks.

I bought some for Mercs once, and then discovered their main draw back. If the hero who bought them dies or get captured, you lose the dog too. Kind of pricey for me. We hunted the dog handlers. It was like killing 2 for the price of one.