<The WotLK FAQ> - ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE.Follow

FEROCITY
Ferocity pets are designed primarily as damage-dealers but can be specced for more survivability if needed.

Cobra Reflexes
Increases your pet's attack speed by 15/30%.
Your pet will hit faster but each attack will do less damage.
Don't be fooled by the tooltip, this talent is actually a DPS increase and definitely worth picking up.

Dash
30 Focus, 32s cooldown
Increases your pet's movement speed by 80% for 16 sec.
Chasing down a mob faster is never a bad thing, but since Ferocity pets have access to Charge later in the tree, this talent isn't a necessity.

Great Stamina
Increases your pet's total Stamina by 4/8/12%.
Depending on what you are using your pet for, this may be a good talent to take. If you don't pick up Dash, one point here is nice, or if you are leveling and need your pet to have a bit more health you may want to forgo the other early talents altogether to fill this one out.

Natural Armor
Increases your pet's armor by 5/10%.
Another pet tanking talent, like Great Stamina, but since armor is only useful against physical attacks and Stamina is useful in all situations, there's not really any good reason to pick it up.

Improved Cower
Your pet's Cower also decreases damage taken by 10/20% for the next 10 seconds.
It's not a tanking talent (since a tanking pet will never use Cower), it's not a damage dealing talent, and it provides damage reduction only half the time. It's not horrible, but it's nowhere near good, and it just can't compete with the other talents in this tier. Ignore it. (*Possibly useful in PvP? No idea.*)

Bloodthirsty
Your pet's attacks have a 10/20% chance to increase its happiness by 5% and heal 5% of its total health.
This is an amazing talent, in just about any situation. Your pet should be able to keep itself pretty much healed when not tanking, keeping it alive when tanking will be easier, and you save a lot of gold you would otherwise have spent on pet food. Spend at least one point here, two if you can.

Spiked Collar
Your pet does an additional 3/6/9% damage with all attacks.
A nice, simple, must-have talent. The only reason not to take all three points is if you are set on your Ferocity pet tanking and want to pick up Natural Armor--even then you should preobably spend at least one here.

Boar's Speed
Increases your pet's movement speed by 30%.
This talent doesn't seem too useful--it's not really worth spending a point in, since Dash or Charge would be more useful.

Avoidance
Reduces the damage your pet takes from area of effect attacks by an additional 25/50/75%,
75% less AoE damage makes a huge difference in instances (*and PvP?*), and Avoidance is a prerequisite for another must-have talent, Rabid. Do not skip this.

Lionhearted
Reduces the duration of all Stun and Fear effects used against your pet by 15/30%/
(*This appears to be mainly a PvP talent. I suppose it could have minimal usefulness in pet tanking as well, but since if your pet is tanking you are probably BM and can already break fears on your pet, it just doesn't seem worth picking up.*)

Charge
35 Focus, 8-25yd range, 25s cooldown
Your pet charges a target, immobilizing the target for 1 sec, and increasing the pet's melee attack power by 25% for its next attack.
If you must have a speed-increasing talent, this is the one to go for. It will get your tanking ferocity pet off to a good start, help your DPS ferocity pet do a little more damage, and seems as if it would be pretty useful in PvP as well. In addition to the extra effects, it has a shorter cooldown than Dash. Definitely worth picking up if you can.

Heart of the Phoenix
Requires 2 points in Bloodthirsty, 10 minute cooldown
When your pet dies it will miraculously return to life with full health.
Like Bloodthristy, another amazing talent. It bugs out occasionally and shouldn't be left on autocast, and your pet will not keep any of its buffs when rezzed, but being able to instantly revive a pet and continue on can be very, very useful. For now, get it--you probably won't be able to spare the points for it when 3.1 comes out, however.

Spider's Bite
Increases the critical strike chance of your pet by 3/6/9%.
Since crit rating does not transfer to pets, this is pretty much the only way of increasing your pet's crit chance, and since it's a prerequisite for Call of the Wild there's not much excuse for not spending full points here.

Great Resistance
Your pet takes 3/6/9% less damage from Arcane, Fire, Frost, Nature, and Shadow magic.
Not a bad talent, but the points are better spent elsewhere--most of the magic damage you'll have to worry about your pet taking is AoE damage, and Avoidance takes care of that. Just ignore this one.[/i]

Rabid
Requires 3 points in avoidance, 45s cooldown
Your pet goes into a killing frenzy. Successful attacks have a 50% chance to increase attack power by 5%. This effect will stack up to 5 times. Lasts 20 seconds.
Up to 25% increased attack power for your pet is very nice, even if you're not Beast Mastery specced. Grab this one if you can.

Lick Your Wounds
Requires 1 point in Heart of the Phoenix, channeled, 3m cooldown
Your pet heals itself for 100% of its total health over 5 sec while channeling.
If you've already spent the points in Bloodthirsty and Heart of the Phoenix, this may be a worthwhile talent to pick up, otherwise don't bother. The channeling aspect of it makes it unwise to use in certain situations (you don't want your pet to sit down in the middle of an AoE spell to heal itself), and it's not worth missing damage increasing talents to take this one.

Call of the Wild
Requires 3 points in Spider's Bite, 5m cooldown
Your pet roars, increasing your pet's and your melee and ranged attack power by 10%. Lasts 20 sec.
More AP (and thus more damage) for both you and your pet--definitely a good thing. (*I can't actually remember if this stacks with Trueshot Aura or not--help?*)

I need to stop letting my being such a panicky, self-hating perfectionist stop me from actually doing stuff. >.<

I really don't think that sounds like a healthy relationship...

Woo hunter #2 just hit 80! And I've even been doing a little PvP... :D