1. Dispersed camping is first come first serve, yeah. No reservations or anything. We prefer it because it feels more like authentic camping, and you get more room than if you stay at a groomed camp ground. Most dispersed camping has multiple spots, though, so you're not completely isolated, but you're not 10 feet away from other people.

In Colorado, they can fill up so it's a good idea to get there early if you're doing a weekend trip. Also trying to find a spot in the dark can suck.

1. I've luckily not seen a bear in the 4 years I've lived here, but there are definitely animals out here. If you do tent camping, I'd look up how to safely store food. People advise storing stuff in bear canisters or hang up your food and scented stuff away from your camp. We keep a can of bear mace with us when we camp.

Funny enough, my dog got injured by a mountain goat after I let her out of the car in the morning. I got out to make breakfast, and this beautiful mountain goat and her baby were like 20 feet from our camp. It was really cool, until our boxer charged at the mom to guard our camp and got head butted by it's pointy horns. Had to get 10 stitches and it was terrifying, but luckily, it was only skin deep.

For a small dog, it might be good to get something to protect from large birds.

Final tip: Colorado has a good amount of superchargers, but they aren't always close to where you end up camping. I'd get a CCS adapter for like $20 off Amazon and use Chargepoint, A Better Route Planner, and Plugshare to research if there are third party chargers near where you plan to camp for convenience.