Cawkazn, Here's what I did. I took one Sarplaninac with me, not more than one dog because of food limitations etc. The double coat was ideal for the Northwestern climate (Montana), rain simply perled off like on a Teflon-pan, snow didn't bother him a bit, and the heat was tolerable as well (within reason). For a big dog he was incredibly modest, actually it was surprising how little food at times he could still thrive on (i.e. I recall 4 days without basically anything!). The size of my dog was important as well, he radiates heat at night, if you keep him with you in the tent. Also, his presence took the edge out of weird noises in the forest that one hears all the time at night. Being a superb protector, it would come in handy more often than one might think, I encountered numerous large animals and predators, the howling of the wolves at night for example seemed way too close to be comfortable. To be honest, I wouldn't take a smaller dog with me. The scariest moments in hindsight were probably a Moose mother with her calf and perhaps a Vietnam veteran who just didn't like people - at all. LOL Anyway, I also believe now that having a gun is in order, all I had with me at the time was a Ka-Bar Fighting Blade and a small axe - well, and the dog. Oh yeah, I had bear spray with me, too, just in case. In general, take more stuff than you think you need, both in tools and in food supplies. But make sure you can carry all that crap comfortably over long distances. And take the "coldest" sleeping bag you can find, one can always open it up a bit if it's too warm. Some nights all that was showing was my nose and even that kept me awake during very cold nights. LOL Back to dogs, I can't imagine a better fit dog than a Shar for going off the grid in a mountainous and forested region like Western Montana. It seems they instinctively know what to do, you don't have to tell them a thing. They somehow know this is serious business now. And they can cope well with the stress, both physically and mentally. And don't underestimate the aspect of protection, over longer periods of time even rare events are highly likely to happen. Dan