Grizzly bears can be ferocious animals that can do a ton of damage to both humans and their pets if they are not careful. Unwanted encounters between humans and domesticated animals seem to be happening at a greater frequency than the past as humans increasingly encroach upon their natural habitat. One such encounter was captured on video last May. In this stunning piece of footage, a grizzly bear and a large dog have a standoff on the side of a high mountain road. The dog, which is only seven months old, has clearly never seen a bear before. It is busy barking its head off at the bruin, which starts to make what looks like a false charge.
However, the dog doesn't buy this bluff and keeps barking and backing the dog up away from the roadway. The bear apparently wants no part of this dog's attitude. Eventually the dog's owner walks into the frame to pull it back from the bear who is left standing in the weeds on the side of the road in an apparent state of confusion.
There were so many ways this situation could have gotten bad in a hurry. Had the bear wanted to kill that dog and attack the owner, we have no doubt it could have done it. It seems fortunate this appears to be a younger bear that was more confused than anything else about what was going on. It also seems likely that the car that passed also played a part in this bear deciding to back up from the scene.
It's hard to tell exactly what breed of dog this is in the footage. It seems likely it's either a Maremma or a Great Pyrenees. Both are sheep dogs that are bred specifically for protecting livestock from wolves and bears in mountainous regions. It seems likely this dog was doing exactly what it had been bred for while protecting its owner. We're just glad the situation worked out with the humans and the animals walking away safely.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram For original videos, check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
