First mission tier 1, 13 zombies and 1 dog

There are a few rare POIs that are tier 1 and have a dog. I think that is a bit much, myself. If you have played the POI before-hand and know exactly where that dog is you can prepare and not have any problem but if you are a new player it is going to be a big challenge with death and quest failure a real threat. Is that bad? It depends on the player. Some will relish it and be pumped that they've found a game that challenges them. Others will hate it.

Safest bet for for new players is to stick to buried supply quests the first few times or the fetch quests since those you can go straight for the supplies and then return to the trader and have less of a chance of running into a dog. I'd steer clear of clear quests until you've geared up a bit. Also make sure you are wearing armor/clothing even if it is just fiber.