My shaman reality sure is a lot different than yours, Tugela.
In groups, Jara is almost always THE busiest toon in the group. Debuffing, buffing, (CC), DPS, and healing EVERY mob, when I'm not pulling. As puller I usually don't also main heal, although I have done that often enough. All this is in addition to keeping "the flexibility to manage my pet effectively" -- setting up a guard point, sending him in with panther, pulling him away before enrage, pulling out puppy pack and panthering them on Nameds.... and yet I'm also one of those types that melees while doing all this. That's a lot of roles.
The only other toon in group who comes close to being that busy is a good chain puller, who is nonstop moving and has up to 3 roles -- pulling, CC, and DPS. Most SKs I've met aren't good chain pullers, if they even end up pulling. But there is one in guild, a kid (/wave Shanfos) I taught as an app to be aggressive because I would pull and make him keep aggro from me while I meleed/tanked the Creator mobs. He was awed/jealous of Jara's chain pulling style, and is a menace now as chain puller for Nest XP grinds.
And I made sure he kept his pet out for panther buffs when he forgot.
