Yes the blankets have flowers; they're just old blankets, which make them good for camping; sue me.

How do I know the dents are new? 1. I know which dents are old. 2. Drive through a tight squeeze; hear the sound of crunching metal; look out and you have damage. Common Sense (Maybe it's a young thing) tells you the damage is new.

The Coyotes were probably 50 yards from camp.

P.S. This guy with a killer ranger with 38" tires grenaded both front hubs on one obstacle. It was

 

Blankets are nice...

Pretty dog he looks nice and comfy in there.

As for the Coyotes, usually they won't come into a camp, however if there is enough of them no telling what they will do.

 

Dang UC...I'd like to have come to CO and go off-roading with ya but if I do I'd have to be a passenger....I'm not risking that kind of damage yet.

Scratches and dings are one thing....oh well....

 

Hey UC just get one of these for your next outing



80% Wolf, 20% Malamute. Its basicly a cross bread dog/wolf

 

Sweet jesus you are not kiding. I'd just be afraid to own one of those things because that's a lot of wolf in one dog, and wolves are not to be trusted. Not only that, those things are HUGE. A friend of mine had one from a puppy and even socialized it properly. The wolve/dog he has still can't be trusted because it will flat out eat any dog alive no matter what the situation.

Wolves in general. UC if you're in an area with the chance of wolves you better have a gun and your dog inside a tent. My GF and I went up to Grand Marias (extreme northern MN 30 minutes south of canada) and saw a eastern timber wolve. They are freaking HUGE! My jaw instantly dropped, I couldn't believe it! They are afraid of humans for the most part when they're by themselves thank GOD, but in a situation with more than one of them, their confidence in approaching you multiples 10x.

I'm not kiding either. I flat out could not believe how big a pure wolf is. It's like the size of a mature great dane height wise and the thickness of a malutmue (spelling?). It's one of the most shocking things I've seen while hiking.

Duke

 

This is sad but it could be worse.
http://9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNA...7-c589c01ca7bf

 

Actually, those wolf/dog hybrids don't make very good guard or watch dogs. They are highly predatory (kill for food) but not aggressive (attack to defend others) unless there was a highly aggressive dog or breed in it's breeding. If you happen to get one of those aggressive breedings, they shouldn't be around child nor animal and kept in a cage.

They will defend themselves but since wolves are pack animals and have the whole social structure associated with it, those dogs are usually kind of shy and timid because they see humans as the "leaders of the pack"... so long as they were bred from civil dog stock.

They also normally don't bark.. which is another strike against them as guard or watch dogs.

Some friends had one they got in a rescue effort after a puppy mill owner took off and left all the animals behind. There was a lot of shady folks breeding those things several years ago under the false idea that they were the ultimate in guard and protection. Once people found out that they were about as far from that as possible, the backyard shady breeders went belly up.

They are really interesting animals. Definitely not like your normal dog.

 

Well geneticly there is no difference between a dog and a wolf. The Wolf is just the unmolested version of the dog.

It is true that they generally don't bark, they do howl however. As for being a guard dog that point is a bit subjective. Are they going to howl at a stranger passing in front of your house...no but they will stand there, stare them down and mirror them as best as they can. Now I don't know about you guys but I would be more scared of a wolf staring at me following me along a fence line than a Doberman barking and jumping at the gate.

Canines are pack animals, so both the dog and the wolf are pack animals. Dogs see the human as being higher up on the totem pole where the wolf sees the human as somewhat of an equal. However when push comes to shove like any pack animal they will protect their pack. While the wolf/dog mix might not make an offensive attack against another animal like a dog might, it will make a defensive attack in an effort to preserve the pack.

There have been alot of different groups that work with these animals, breeding, training, and rescuing them. Depending on who you talk to some say they are as gentle as can be, some say they can click and attack you. Same is true with Pit Bulls and other types of dogs. I believe in nurture over nature as I have had too many dogs in my life that were supposedly bad dogs that were gentle as a sheep.

So UC I have to ask how the hell did you crack that frame?? THink it might be time to box that bad boy in lol.

 

Very lucky dog indeed, even though it was injured I would have to say one night in the hospital after going up against 3 mountian lions isn't that bad.

 

Here's what I think happened to the frame......

Doing a body lift; needed to remove the radius arm bracket
Took it to a garage to have it torched out with plasma.
They took a air chissel to the rivets instead
I assume there was some form of a crack they didn't tell me about and just covered it back up with the bracket. It grew from there.

I'm trying to get some advice from Zapster on how to fix it. I've heard welding may only make things worse but I want to get his advice. Someone else on a 4x4 forum was talking about cracked frames and thought grade-8 bolts and plate steel reinforcement was a better solution. I dont even know if that's an option for me given the location of the crack.

 

Well granted this ins't 4x4 but when I was working on my S-10 I boxed the frame with 1/4" steel plate to keep it from flexing under the load. Probably added about 100lbs total to the truck but the frame looked great after I grinded the weld and painted it black. I also ran as much wiring as I could in the frame to keep them out of sight.

If you boxed it in on the open side you could get some strength to keep it from happening again and probably just weld up the crack that is there now. I think alot of times people are scared to weld on a frame for fear of warping. If you take your time and don't try to weld it all in one pass you shouldn't have a problem. A properly welded crack will hold just as good if not better than a factory weld. The plate steel and bolts might work but with the flexing your frame will probably do there is a chance that the bolts could elongat the hole and eventually coause problems.

 

steel plate/bolt it AND then weld the edges of the plate and weld the nut onto the bolt. That should be sufficient.

 

What is with mountian lions having dogs/peoples head in thier mouth. DO they try and crush the skull of what?

I use to have 2 siberean huskeys...full blooded. I know that when I was younger we kept one in the house half the time and I did something to get spanked(I use like 2) and that was my dog..wel my mom went to blister my butt and my dog was in the house and lunged at her. It scared her. I know that a Huskey isn't a wolfe/dog but I think that any dog can be protective. All 3 that I have(our boxer is protective but he is also a scardy cat) have been protective. I have always loved wolfes/huskeys. I know a guy and he bought a Wolfe skin and man that sucker was as long if not longer than a couch. It was long and big.

 

The best dog I ever owned was a Siberian Husky. She was great but intensively protective.


My last dog a terrier/lab mix was a great dog too but my husky will always have a special place with me.

 

UC, yes. Coyotes could attack and kill Mason. My folks lost a dog to coyotes several years ago. She was out in the field by their house one night and had a run in with a pack of coyotes. My mom and dad didn't hear anything from in the house and didn't find the dog until the next morning.

Vader, most likely not. While coyotes are aggressive and predatory they are, for the most part, afraid of humans. They are also wary of fire. I've camped in the mountains where coyotes live in abundance and have never seen one close to camp. Just keep your dog close to camp and I'm sure you'd both be perfectly safe.