steepNdeep
05-15-2007, 09:35 AM
Well, I finally took my dog "Luna" out to meet her first bruin a few nights ago. I got her ~ 2 months ago and she was already 3 years old. I've been working with her in the forests around home and she loves to track game. She gets on a scent and works the trail like a blood hound, but silently, until she gets close to it. She's lives to hunt and has flushed grouse, squirrels, mice, deer... The hardest part is calling her back once she's onto something, but we've got that pretty well sorted out...:roll: She's a mellow dog, except around protecting her turf from other dogs and animals. She's got no fear of other animals and will stand up to a dog twice her size... I was curious to see what she'd do around a bear...
We're pretty high in elevation and the bears are just coming out close to home. I took her down in the valley and found a bear in a area that I know well. I took her down on a leash to within ~40 yards and then let her off. There was knoll between us and the bear and we were up wind, so she had no idea the bear was there. She'd never seen a bear before, and she's used to most things running instantly, so it took her a bit to figure it out...
Here's the vid (it's shaky as hell, but you get the idea...): http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa12/steepNdeep/?action=view¤t=luna-1st-bear.flv
Here's a couple images that I pulled off the vid...
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa12/steepNdeep/luna-1st-bear-1.jpg
I helped her get the bear moving and then her instincts kicked in... She chased the bear for ~ 200 m and then came back to me. I asked her where the bear went and encouraged her to get on it again ... and she ripped off down the trail and in 5 min. had the bear at bay. By the time I dragged my a$$ for 20 min. on the stairmaster... they were on the move again... I heard her bay it up one more time, but I didn't have the energy to make it up the mountain and it was getting late. I called her off and she came down ~5 min. later... Luna was a natural! We're both psyched to get out there again! 8)
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa12/steepNdeep/luna-1st-bear-4.jpg
We're pretty high in elevation and the bears are just coming out close to home. I took her down in the valley and found a bear in a area that I know well. I took her down on a leash to within ~40 yards and then let her off. There was knoll between us and the bear and we were up wind, so she had no idea the bear was there. She'd never seen a bear before, and she's used to most things running instantly, so it took her a bit to figure it out...
Here's the vid (it's shaky as hell, but you get the idea...): http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa12/steepNdeep/?action=view¤t=luna-1st-bear.flv
Here's a couple images that I pulled off the vid...
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa12/steepNdeep/luna-1st-bear-1.jpg
I helped her get the bear moving and then her instincts kicked in... She chased the bear for ~ 200 m and then came back to me. I asked her where the bear went and encouraged her to get on it again ... and she ripped off down the trail and in 5 min. had the bear at bay. By the time I dragged my a$$ for 20 min. on the stairmaster... they were on the move again... I heard her bay it up one more time, but I didn't have the energy to make it up the mountain and it was getting late. I called her off and she came down ~5 min. later... Luna was a natural! We're both psyched to get out there again! 8)
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa12/steepNdeep/luna-1st-bear-4.jpg