The odd cheerleaders are nice for chasing routers and have somewhat of an impact on enemy morale if placed behind your spears. Apart from that they might be able to flank, but I'd use cavalry everytime - hands down. It's personal preference, I like screaming banshees on the battlefield just for the heck of it. But they are no game winners, far from that.
Dogs are nice early on (fire-and-forget, so to speak) but lose their effectiveness rather quickly and will become obsolete when high tiers come around. Waiting 2 turns for them to complete becomes rather pointless after mid-game.
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