Your post is a bit confusing. You can talk with your familiar, as its intelligence increases as you go up level. This is not necessarily true with your animal companion. Think of your animal companion as a true pet; you can teach it tricks (probably much better than your average dog), but you can't hold a meaningful conversation with it.
You'll be able to tell your pet to attack a certain individual or to stand down, but you won't be able to give it detailed battle plans or have it know to attack that wizard casting fireball (unless you order it to).