"animal" is a noun while "amical" (= friendly) is an adjective, so they have nothing to do with the verbs. ;)
About the plural, almost every word ending with -al becomes -aux. Le cheval => les cheveux, un idéal => des idéaux, etc. There are a few exceptions : un bal => des bals, le festival => les festivals, le carnaval => les carnavals.
So here your sentence becomes "Les chiens sont des animaux amicaux."
I hope it's clear. :)