Dogs are all loving and playful with us. But on the rare occasion, they sense danger, especially involving their humans, those instincts shift into overdrive and they will give their lives for us.

This happened when a wild bear was an obvious threat to her family. This brave dog stood up to the bear, more than willing to fight it off if it meant saving her humans.

The Bates family are from Halibut Cove, Alaska.

They went to visit the Glacier Moraine Trail in Kachemak Bay State Park but the trip turned into a life-threatening situation when they were followed by a wild bear.

The family with kids grouped together, making noises in an attempt to scare off the bear.

But the bear wasn’t intimidated, constantly stalking the family and even coming close to 12-year-old Rockwell.

Sally, their 7-year-old German Shepherd, had enough. She stepped in between the boy and the bear!

“She went and put herself right in between the bear and our son, because the bear was obviously going to pounce on our son. And she just stood there.”

Says Weatherly bates.

“I mean, neither of our dogs ever barked at this bear, it happened so quickly, but she just positioned herself right in between the bear and our son and the bear just tackled her.”

Sally took on the bear and the wild animal tackled her, even having the dog’s head in its jaws at one point.

The other family dog lunged at the bear, saving Sally and giving Greg Bates enough time to grab his gun and shoot the bear. The animal died, and Sally and the other dog came out of the fight breathing.

They rushed Sally to the vet but the tough dog was fine with no serious injuries.

“She’s gonna be fine. The vet said she’s super tough. I mean, she’s an 80-pound dog and was able to handle the bite a lot better than I think we would have.”

Weatherly said.

It was a terrifying moment but the family felt bad for the bear as well. It was just hungry, and like all animals, followed its instincts to survive. In fact, the bear was in poor health and filled with parasites. There wasn’t enough food for the bears in that park.

Weatherly Bates had this to say,

“I just think it was really desperation for her. [My kids] really feel bad for the bears and we all think they’ve had a really hard year, not enough food. ”

It was a bittersweet moment. But Sally’s brave act definitely saved the family from harm.

“It brings tears to our eyes that she did that for us, because I have no doubt if she hadn’t put herself in between us and the bear that it could have really hurt one of my kids or one of us.”

Low berry yield and a disappointing salmon return, black bears are hungry in Kachemak Bay State Park. The Bates returned the following day to recover the bear carcass. They took what meat they could, and bringing the hide, skull, and other required parts to Fish and Game to be recorded.

Sally and the other dog surely got lots of treats after their fight!

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Source: theanimalclub