WOW! What an amazing story. When I hear stories like this I always get a little scared inside. That must have been terrifying.

Makes me think about beefing up my own defenses. There's no grizzlies around here but we do often walk the same trails as black bears, coyotes, coy-wolves and possibly the elusive cougar. Other than a picnic basket scouting black bear that walked into our camp a few years ago, I've only had one other predator encounter on the trail, but it was enough to make me want to be more prepared for my own defenses. I was rushed on the trail by two big dogs while sitting under a pine tree making a brew one early morning. They were someone's pets and were stupidly off-leash in a known coyote area. Had I been weaponized, it could have gotten ugly. As it was the owner called them off when he heard me yelling at them.

A gun isn't going to happen, but a bigger/sturdier walking stick is going to be purchased, to be sure, and I've been thinking about carrying a spray too.

Does bear spray work on dogs?