yup, it's actually mostly going to be better for your action economy early because the hound attack is probably worth 2-3 dice of cantrip damage. and of course, if they can't escape the hound, you'll get another attack the next round. possibly an opportunity attack too.
hound is a super strong ability. they finally gave sorcerer subclasses some substance, except that now it is showing just how little substance the older sorcerer subclasses had, which sucks for anyone who just wanted to play the old subclasses because they think they're cool.