Leo's bad bear day.

Leo, never chased a bear before Jack died last Fall, but decided this Spring it was his job now to take care of them. Jack bit and chased many a bear during his five years up here and the bears never laid a paw on him. Leo wasn't so lucky today.

I was walking toward Hooke's place up the road from mine about a quarter mile. Leo was slightly ahead of me as we approached the camp. I noticed he ran as he approached the pond and thought he was anxious to get a drink.


I came up by the propane tanks to be met by Leo, looking quite scared, hair up. He ran towards me and keep going. I looked where he came from and saw a 300 pound bear down by the feeder. Just then,Scooter, my young dog also saw it and started toward it. I yelled, "No!", and he stopped as the bear ran off. Then the heavens opened up with a downpour and I headed for cover under the porch with the dogs.

I decided to call Lee on the phone to come and get us when the rain turned to hail with lightening. Leo was acting jumpy and I thought it was because of the thunderstorm. The dogs and I jumped in the car, and Lee said, "What smells? Did one of those dogs roll in something?" I swore they didn't as we drove home, but I noticed the smell too.

Once we got inside the cabin with good lighting I noticed Leo's back and side had been clawed by the bear. This explained the smell and Leo's nervousness. I put him in the tub and cleaned everything off well, peroxided it, and put antibiotic ointment on the wounds. He had three puncture wounds on his back, one is quite deep and a claw scratch on the side. He faired very well for being tagged by a bear. It is yet to be seen if he will need to go to the vet and get some antibiotics as these kind of wounds can get infected fast. I am betting Leo will be much more careful around bears as he is not the bravest dog, but definitely the luckiest dog tonight. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out!