Things are more likely to follow you further if they think they're on the brink of winning. My suggestion:
Stand a while and let the pet take your health down alot (50-25%) then start walking backwards towards the res shrine, this SHOULD give the animal more incentive to follow you and it should stay around the res shrine for the 10 seconds it takes, remember to remove all armor etc so the pet kills you quicker. ;-) hope this helps