Black Bear Safety when Hiking with Dogs

Since November 26, 2025 when I thought I saw a black bear (Challenges of Hiking Barrow Bay (Lions Head) I’m now curious about Black Bear Safety, specifically when hiking with dogs. I would like to know ways that I could keep both myself and the dogs safe if we were to see a bear or if a bear were to come at us.   

Personally, I wouldn’t want the dogs to defend me. I would want to keep them safe.  I know that Mia would flee the scene, if she could, based on previous experiences (not with bears) with other animals.  Oliver is more of a defender and he would try to protect me.  

So I’m going to ask ChatGPT about Black Bear Safety and what I should do if the dogs and myself ever came across a bear. The following information is generated with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI), conversation dated December 8, 2025. 

Chat GPT says that encountering a black bear with two huskies is a high risk situation because the dogs can create a defensive and/or predatory response in the bear. So that's not good news for me. I was hoping that having the dogs would scare the bear off. I know experts always say to get big when seeing a black bear so my assumption was that dogs would add to my "largeness" and would be more scary for black bears. Obviously, I'm completely wrong.

ChatGPT created this image as the limited interactions I've had with black bears, I've never once thought let's take a picture. haha

Black Bear Safety, First Steps:

Ok, you just saw the bear. Your heart is beating out of your chest, your breathing has increased, you find yourself profusely sweating and you have tunnel vision and sharper hearing, now what the hell are you supposed to do? Your next steps are to STOP. Assess the situation quickly and get the dogs behind you. Since dogs create a negative response in bears, you want to keep them out of sight. Currently, my dogs are not trained to get "behind" but I think this is something I may need to implement soon. You want to shorten the dogs leashes and make sure they stay behind you. Do not allow the dogs to lunge towards the bear as this will create the bear to feel even more defensive and aggressive. I think this is challenging enough because I'm not sure how even the most well trained dog would choose to obey the command and stay behind, when its natural instinct may be to fight if needed.

With your dogs behind you, you want to make yourself look big. Stand very tall and raise your arms. Speak calmly to the bear "Hey bear, get out of here". Do not scream or run. Stay as calm as you can. If the bear isn't approaching then start to back away slowly, together as a group. Keep your eyes on the bear and try to avoid tripping. This alone will prove to be more difficult since you still have your dogs behind you.

Bear Approaches

Black bears will often bluff charge. If one is approaching, continue to stay together as a group and continue backing away. Remain as a single cluster with the dogs leashed behind you. If the bear gets within 30-60 ft, use the bear spray. This is the single most effective deterrent. You want to aim the spray slightly downward so that the spray "cloud" covers the bear's path. Spray when the bear is coming towards you, not standing still. You want a cloud between you and the bear. Keep spraying if needed, short bursts until the bear breaks off. This is also a big reason why the dogs need to be behind you, if they're in front of you where you need to spray then ..... you do the math. Yep, they're going to get sprayed too, which is no good!

Hiking Tip

When you are hiking with dogs, it is great to have their leashes on a waist belt, instead of holding their leashes in your hand. This allows your hands to be free so that you can easily grab bear spray from your chest strap.

Sidenote

Make sure you know how to use the bear spray. If you have expired bear spray, instead of throwing it out experts suggest you practice using it so you know what to do, how far it actually sprays etc. Why does bear spray expire? Good question! It expires for many reasons but the main ones are the can loses pressure and the active ingredient breaks down. Over time, tiny leaks or gradual permeation through seals can reduce the internal pressure. This means it wont spray as far as it should and I don't know about you, but the further it sprays the better! Another reason is the active ingredient (capsaicin) slowly breaks down. It may be less potent meaning its a weaker deterrent (no thank you!).

Black Bear Attacks

Hopefully this never happens to me (or to you!) but if a black bear does attack it will usually be because it's defensive towards the dogs. On the rare occasion, it will be predatory and this can be extremely dangerous. For black bears you want to fight back with everything you have. Focus on the eyes, nose and muzzle. Use trekking poles, rocks, fists or any available objects. Keep the dogs behind you if possible because they often escalate the violence or get badly injured. Never play dead with a black bear. This all sounds super easy written down but I can only imagine how this plays out in real life. Like I said, I think Oliver would be fighting so I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue if this ever happened. I think it would take an extremely well trained dog to continue to stay behind their owner while being attacked.

Dogs often trigger attacks and your goal is to prevent them from engaging with the bear. Try to keep them under control, never release the leashes unless the bear is actively grabbing them. If a bear is dragging or attacking your dog, release the leash so that your dog has a chance to escape. Personally, I have no way to release my dogs except for the clip by their back. I think that I will need to get a different setup, where I can release them by a clip from my waist belt instead, in order for them to flee.

After the Black Bear Leaves

Keep your dog leashes short and your spray in hand. Don't relax yet. You want to move away while staying together and continuing to talk. Check the dogs for injuries when you are in a safer area, and treat if needed. Get as far away from that area as you can.

Prevention

Obviously, no one wants to encounter a black bear with their dogs while on hikes so let's try to prevent this situation from happening. Make noise throughout the hike through talking, perhaps use bells etc. Bears have great hearing so you want to be making noise as you hike. Keep your dogs leashed at all times! Carry ready to use bear spray on your chest strap or waist belt. Hike with awareness, scan ahead and glance around. Be aware of your surroundings.

Black Bear Safety and the Bruce Trail

Black bear country is in the Peninsula and Sydenham sections. North of Owen Sound is considered black bear country so this is where you need to be safest. It's not uncommon for bears to travel outside of this area so always be prepared. The Bruce Trail Reference Book says that "it is uncommon to encounter a black bear on a hike. They have excellent hearing and will generally vanish before you become aware of them. They are wary of humans and tend to avoid encounters." (IV-8/IV-9)

Closing

Hopefully this is helpful for you, it definitely was for me. It has pointed out areas that I need to improve; like quick release leashes, training the dogs to get behind etc. It also cleared up misconceptions I had which were that the dogs would help create fear in the bear. That is totally wrong, it creates the bear to be more defensive and more inclined to attack. Always be prepared and have your safety gear available. Safety first everyone!

Thanks so much for reading.

Kendal

Get out there and explore (safely)