Chat
05-12-2018, 09:48 AM
Yesterday on our walk, Pluto took off into the thick woods behind our house and began barking frantically. I called and called, but he never made an appearance and never stopped barking. From the angry, frenzied tones, I guessed he had found a bear and treed it. The horses guessed the same thing because they took off toward the woods as well. Phil and I took the goats in the opposite direction and went for our walk. I could hear Pluto the entire time, and about halfway through, the barking began to move quickly in another direction. At that point, Daisy left us to join Pluto. By the time we got back from our walk, the dogs were barking on the empty wooded acreage just south of ours. I still couldn't see them. We put the goats in their pens and I went off after the dogs.
I found them not far into the woods on the other side of the fence and they were barking at a dense thicket of scrub oak. Suddenly a huge black paw reached out and swiped at Pluto. He bounced out of the way and the bear charged toward him, swatting and hissing. Daisy and Pluto had that bear surrounded. I kept back at a safe distance and called the dogs. Daisy came pretty quickly, but Pluto had angered the bear and whenever he turned tail, the bear chased him. He wasn't about to run toward me (and home) with a bear on his tail! So he dodged and barked and chased until the bear eventually ran off in a different direction, at which point Pluto came running up the hill with a magnificent grin on his face. Good dog! I'm glad he didn't disobey and keep after the bear, but I'm also glad he was smart enough not to lead it in my direction.
I think Pluto had cornered the bear on our property, but I'm guessing the horses flushed it out. Bears will sometimes try to face down a dog, but we've never seen one stand up to the horses. Once the horses got it on the run, Pluto chased it to the neighboring property where Daisy soon joined him, and together they kept it cornered in the thicket until I got there and called them off. I'm glad neither of them was hurt. Bears are known to kill dogs, and Pluto looked like he was mostly teasing and taunting that bear. Hopefully old Bruin will think twice before crossing over our fence line from now on.
I found them not far into the woods on the other side of the fence and they were barking at a dense thicket of scrub oak. Suddenly a huge black paw reached out and swiped at Pluto. He bounced out of the way and the bear charged toward him, swatting and hissing. Daisy and Pluto had that bear surrounded. I kept back at a safe distance and called the dogs. Daisy came pretty quickly, but Pluto had angered the bear and whenever he turned tail, the bear chased him. He wasn't about to run toward me (and home) with a bear on his tail! So he dodged and barked and chased until the bear eventually ran off in a different direction, at which point Pluto came running up the hill with a magnificent grin on his face. Good dog! I'm glad he didn't disobey and keep after the bear, but I'm also glad he was smart enough not to lead it in my direction.
I think Pluto had cornered the bear on our property, but I'm guessing the horses flushed it out. Bears will sometimes try to face down a dog, but we've never seen one stand up to the horses. Once the horses got it on the run, Pluto chased it to the neighboring property where Daisy soon joined him, and together they kept it cornered in the thicket until I got there and called them off. I'm glad neither of them was hurt. Bears are known to kill dogs, and Pluto looked like he was mostly teasing and taunting that bear. Hopefully old Bruin will think twice before crossing over our fence line from now on.