Speaking of dogs and bear, here's a little twist to consider if you're in the habit of letting your dog run loose:

In Scandinavia, one way of elk (moose) hunting is letting the dogs run loose and make A LOT of barking. They will chase and stress the elk (moose). This will either drive the elk to a convenient location or give the hunter time to position himself for a shot.

Now what happens when the dog meets a bear? The bear probably wants to run away, but if the bear is surprised and the dog is too close the bear may choose to attack. Then, the dog runs backs to its owner as fast as it possibly can. The bear may very well chase the dog, either as a chase-the-fleeing-prey response or a I'll-show-you-who's-the-BOSS response. Either way, you have a close surprise encounter with a stressed and angry bear and one or more humans.

This situation is extremely volatile, and several bear attacks have happened to hunters with dogs. The attacks may just be fake, or the bear may be stressed enough to make a real attack. Either way, the bear is typically shot by the fellow hunter.

As far as I know, NO ONE walking alone in the woods has been attacked by bears in Scandinavia, as opposed to a handful of hunters with dogs. (One incident is uncertain, though: A man was attacked and killed by bear as he left his "out house" of his bear country cabin. It is believed, but not proven that his dog played a role in the encounter).