New Study Examines Whether Dogs Help or Hinder People in Bear Country

When an off-leash dog barked at a grizzly bear on a trail in Banff National Park earlier this summer, the encounter followed a pattern wildlife researchers have now documented across more than a century of conflicts between people, dogs and bears.

The dog approached the bear. The bear became focused on the dog. And the dog repeatedly returned toward its owners, potentially bringing the conflict with it.

No one was injured in the July encounter involving Bear 142, a well-known female grizzly and daughter of Banff's famous Bear 122, or "The Boss." But Parks Canada later charged two hikers after investigators determined their off-leash dog posed an unnecessary risk to people and wildlife.

Now, a newly published study offers one of the most comprehensive looks yet at how dogs can change encounters between people and bears.

Published in the August 2026 issue of The Journal of Wildlife Management, The Canine Conundrum: Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country? analyzed 326 human-bear conflicts involving domestic dogs across North America between 1901 and 2023.

Among those incidents, 170 people were injured and five died. Dogs fared considerably worse: 56 dogs were killed, more than 10 times the number of human fatalities.

The researchers found dogs can sometimes help people in bear country, but can also initiate conflicts, become the focus of attacks and lead owners to put themselves in danger trying to protect them.

Their findings point particularly to the importance of keeping dogs under control.

When Dogs Bring Bears Back

One of the clearest risks identified in the study involved off-leash dogs encountering bears away from their owners.

Researchers found that in 27 cases, representing 8.3 per cent of the 326 conflicts analyzed, an off-leash dog encountered or flushed a bear and then ran back toward its owner with the bear following.

In those incidents, 70 per cent of owners were injured.

That closely resembles the scenario wildlife experts warned about following the encounter with Bear 142 on the Taylor Lake trail in July.

Video showed a dog named Lola barking at the grizzly as its owners backed down the trail. The dog returned toward the hikers before turning back toward the bear, while the bear continued walking in their direction.

At the time, Nick de Ruyter, Program Director of WildSmart with the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, described exactly how that type of encounter can escalate.

"What many dog owners don't realize is that after being chased by an off-leash dog, bears will realize they are bigger and stronger and will turn the tables and start chasing the dog," de Ruyter said.

"When scared, the dog runs back to its owners for safety with a very angry bear chasing it. These scenarios often result in the people and dogs being attacked by the bear."

Most conflicts in the study where leash status was known involved off-leash dogs. Of the 326 incidents, 211 involved dogs known to be off leash, compared with 37 involving leashed dogs. Leash status was not reported in 78 cases.

But the researchers cautioned against interpreting that to mean an off-leash dog is a specific number of times more likely to encounter a bear. They did not know the overall number of leashed and off-leash dogs travelling through bear habitat, making that comparison impossible.

What the study does show is what can happen after a conflict begins.

"Off-leash dogs often ranged out ahead of people and in so doing may bring a bear back to them," the researchers wrote.

Owners Put Themselves at Risk

Dogs can also change how people respond once an encounter becomes dangerous.

In 96 cases where a bear mauled a dog, 29 per cent of people rushed to help their pet. Fifty-one successfully broke up the fight, but 17 people suffered injuries ranging from slight to severe.

In another 102 incidents, people attempted to distract a bear attacking their dog by making noise, shouting or throwing objects. Forty-five of those people suffered injuries ranging from slight to severe.

The researchers suggested people's attachment to their dogs can lead them to take risks they might otherwise avoid, noting that many owners consider dogs members of their families rather than simply property.

The study also complicates the idea that bringing a dog provides additional protection in bear country.

Dogs fought with bears in 40.1 per cent of the 272 incidents where researchers could assess that behaviour.

But they didn't consistently defend their owners. Among 111 dogs whose owners were attacked by a bear, 40, or 35.9 per cent, did not come to their owners' aid.

Nor did dogs frequently provide advance warning. Researchers found dogs warned their owners of a bear's presence in only 30 of the 326 incidents, or 9.2 per cent, leading the authors to describe them as "unsuitable for providing advanced warning of a bear."

Bear Spray Worked When It Was Carried

The research also reinforced familiar advice about carrying bear spray.

Bear spray was reported as being carried in only 13 incidents where researchers had sufficient information about deterrents. It stopped the bear and ended the incident in nine of those cases, or 69.2 per cent.

Firearms were present in 45 of 150 cases where researchers could determine whether one was available and stopped the attack in 42 cases.

The researchers cautioned against directly comparing the two deterrents because of the small and potentially different samples. Firearm rules also differ substantially between Canada and the United States.

In Canadian national parks, firearms cannot generally be carried for protection against bears, making bear spray the practical deterrent available to most hikers.

Not Just a Backcountry Problem

The study also found dog-bear conflicts weren't confined to remote wilderness.

About 45 per cent occurred while people were hiking or camping in wilderness areas, while 35.3 per cent happened around people's homes or while they were walking dogs near home.

Conflicts occurred throughout the year, but 70 per cent happened between May and September.

Black bears accounted for 69 per cent of the incidents, brown or grizzly bears 21 per cent and polar bears 1 per cent, with the remaining cases involving bears whose species was unknown. Canada accounted for 76 incidents and the United States 250.

Travelling with more people also appeared to reduce risk. Researchers found that as human group size increased, the probability of injury decreased, supporting longstanding advice to travel in groups in bear country.

What The Study Can't Tell Us

There is an important limitation to the research.

The database contained incidents in which dogs and bears had already come into conflict. Researchers did not have a comparable dataset showing how often people travelling without dogs encountered bears, nor did they know how many people with dogs passed through bear habitat without incident.

That means the study cannot determine precisely how much having a dog increases a person's overall probability of encountering a bear.

The data are also biased toward adverse encounters because people are more likely to report a conflict than an uneventful hike with their dog.

Instead, the study provides insight into what can happen once a dog-bear encounter occurs and which factors appear to make the outcome more severe.

The researchers said leash use may play an important role in reducing the severity of those conflicts, while also recommending people travel in groups, carry an appropriate deterrent and know how to use it.

A Timely Finding in Banff

Parks Canada charged the two hikers involved in the Bear 142 encounter under the National Parks of Canada Domestic Animal Regulations. Their first court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 25 in Canmore.

Following the incident, Parks Canada spokesperson James Eastham told Bow Valley Insider that keeping dogs leashed protects both pets and wildlife.

"Bears and other wildlife may react aggressively toward dogs they view as threats, resulting in their injury or death," Eastham said.

For researchers, the consequences can extend beyond the person and their dog. Conflicts can also affect bears and public perceptions of them, particularly when an encounter ends with a human injury.

The study's management recommendations are relatively simple: keep dogs leashed, carry bear spray or another approved deterrent and know how to use it, travel in groups and consider leaving dogs behind in areas with frequent bear encounters.

The researchers said those precautions can benefit both people and wildlife.

"Our objective was to generate insights that enhance the safety of both people and dogs while supporting bear conservation," they wrote.