Think Your Dog Makes You Safer in Bear Country? Maybe Not...

Earlier this summer, I was jogging on a local trail with my 7-year-old black lab mutt, Camas, when she suddenly froze. The fur along her spine bristled. Then she let out a single, sharp bark - a timbre I'd never before heard.

I caught the unmistakable musk of an animal and my hand shot to the bear spray on my chest. Halfway up a tree less than 20 yards away, a beautiful, small cinnamon black bear stared back at us.

The bear scampered off as Camas growled, standing her ground in front of me on the trail. "Good girl," I told her, my heart rate slowing to a normal pace. My dog, I assumed, warned...