Is there any official alternate class feature, substitution level, or variant for the ranger class that allows it to apply its full level towards its animal companion progression? And I mean something that stacks with the Natural Bond feat, since I’m already using that.
The best answers will achieve this without giving up BAB, combat styles, or the Track bonus feat; some lost spellcasting is fine but still needs to have at least some spellcasting. These are not requirements for answers, but if you find answers that meet these criteria, highlight them!
Absolutely must be official material; I very well know that the ranger should just have full animal companion progression by default, and houserule this for my own games, but that is not available in the context I need this. Anything WotC published or slapped their endorsement on is fine (e.g. Dragon, Dungeon, Oriental Adventures, and so on), but homebrew and houserules are not.