Pathfinder Animal Companion help

[Pendulous]

I've been scouring the internet, and I can't info I need on animal companions. I remember in 3.5, you could take any animal hat had an HD equal to or less than yours. We're at level 8 (fun story about where my old character went), so I have options. I'm thinking of going bear Anumus (or however it's called, the anthropomorphs), taking a bear companion, and using Wild Shape to primarily be a bear. I'm also going with Natural Spell and Wild Speech, so I can talk and cast in Wild Shape. I was hoping for going with a mainly companion buff setup, but as far as I've seen, there aren't any super animal companion buff spells. Also, I did all the calculations on a starting bear, at 8th level. His stats suck. I'm using d20pfsrd.com since I don't have any of the physical copies. I was hoping to get some info and suggestions:

1. So, can I take a higher level animal? One that has my HD or lower? And then level him as normal through the companion leveling chart, starting him at zero (or, say, three, if his HD is five)? I was hoping for a dire bear, but I got a ways to go for that.

2. How does gear for animals work? Can they wear basic armor? Can they wear magic items? Is there a cheaper cost for magic items? I remember that being something that was a thing in 3.5.

3. Any suggestions on animal feats? I've got four, and Improved Natural Attack and Improved Natural Armor blow. Sorry, but 1 extra AC isn't gonna make a difference (it's 18 by the way right now), and going from a d4 claw to a d6 doesn't really do much. All the damage is in the strength bonus.

4. Are there any specific spells to buff animals? I remember a couple really cool ones in 3.5, though I can't remember the source.

Thanks in advance.

[Yanisa]

1) Pathfinder ditched the whole HD/level system of 3.5 You can choose all animal companion from level 1, and many animals tend to grow in size around level 4 (if small) or 7 (if medium). They also scale in HD with the druid, so they all start at 2 HD and level according the same table (around level 8 that is 7 HD for the bear). Most information can be found here (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions).
Also Animal Companions have their own stats, that don't match the Bestiary/Monster Manual stats. Her is a link to the bear companion (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions#TOC-Bear). That also means there is no difference between a Polar Bear, a Dire bear of a Care Bear, they all use the same Bear stats as animal companion.

So there is no higher or lower level companions and basically Animal Companion are a class unto itself

2) There is barding (www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/armor#TOC-Barding) or armor for unusual creatures (they are the same thing with a different name). Basically you pay twice the price for a Medium creature on 4 legs for any armor. Do remember that an animal companion does need the feats to wear armor or else he gets penalties.
As for magic items, there is a table to shows which magic items an animal can use here (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items#table-magic-item-slots-for-animals). There are no cheaper ways but you don't pay extra unlike armor. A spare Cloak of Resistance in the party's loot pile can be worn by a bear without extra costs.

3)+4) I am not to good with advice on feats or spells, but Strong Jaw (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/strong-jaw) is a often used buff. It increases damage of natural attacks by 2 sizes, which can add a nice boost, especially with Improved Natural Attack. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/monster-feats/improved-natural-attack)

[Pendulous]

So my bear companion caps out at medium size, while at level 8 I'm already huge? That's kind of lame. I guess I can give him Improved Natural Attack and putting an Amulet of Mighty Fists on him, but that makes his claws 1d6+7, with an attack bonus of 12. In a high-powered campaign (which we run), this doesn't seem like much.