So today I almost rage quitted because of these pests and yeah, I'm starting to see some patterns. Most of all I get the impression that the custom mobs in general are not optimized / changed at all to match the new (now current) combat system. Especially the nether hounds which can attack in packs and will also find ways to sneak up behind you. When you hit one then there's a timeout before you can hit another. But if you're attacked from both ends there's no way a shield can block that. Unless of course you're backing up, but that can cause whole new problems. Especially because nether hounds are often to be found near lava. And even if you have a potion effect on you it's still bad practice because of the massive cliffs in the nether. Next is of course the speed in which they attack. If you suffer from a little lag you can get multiple hits before you can even attack yourself. And after you did you got to cope with a cooldown delay while they don't. With that in mind I can only conclude that nether hounds have not been changed to meet the new combat system, and that's part of the frustration I think.
