Some things I have noticed with this bug is:
They can't teleport in the ocean..
If you get close, but not close enough, they'll just merrily bounce in the water, looking at you.
And finally, they're extremely slow in the water.
At this point, I'm better off abandoning my poor canine companions in the ocean, if I want to go anywhere, then hope I am lucky enough to find more to tame. But you were right, going back, they'll be there.
Close please. ._.'
..Apparently this is a desired behavior for snow golems to die in the jungle.. Not sure who exactly desired that, but oh well.
Hello, this appears to still be happening. I usually play on easy with my Fiance when he is home from work, so I switched to peaceful this morning (to not waste my apples), and was utterly confused about this. (Shortly after the video, enough wheat grew I was able to make some bread, but I thought that this was quite interesting)
I am playing vanilla, unmodded 1.7.2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJpzRmbZ97Q&feature=youtu.be