Up here in Alaska, the top bear dogs are a breed called Karelian Bear Dogs, which apparently originate from breeds in Finland and Russia. They are good at hunting and fighting big game animals like moose, wolves, and the Eurasian Brown Bear and have been used to good effect in Canada, America, and strangely, Japan, where they have greatly reduced bear incidents.
My brother and sister worked at a summer camp a few years ago over in Port Allworth Alaska and said that the dogs would constantly patrol and circle around you while you walked on the trails to make sure that there were no bears hiding in the brush. Needless to say, as a prospective Alaskan homesteader, I think I want a few of these dogs for my homestead in the future.
