I’d choose a dog (most probably a German shepherd or a Belgian malinois) to do security around the cabin.
Befriend a wolf somehow and it’d do patrols outside the woodlands of any dangers and alert if needed. It can then communicate with the dog of any dangers ahead.
An eagle, to do aerial patrols around or beyond the woods like a scout.
The drawback to a pack of dogs is the food consumption. In a nuclear apocalypse rationing is going to be difficult already, maintaining stores of kibble or other dogfeed for a whole pack would be a real burden.
If its not nuclear then I guess there’s enough protein to go around.
Id probably try to keep some horses too, if food and drink isn’t a worry. Maybe goats too, but now we’re going into animal husbandry