17-Year-Old Dog and Bear Have a Standoff in California Living Room

There’s regular brave, and then there’s Doodle brave. Doodle, a 17-year-old dog with a whole lot of moxy, recently found himself face to face with a giant wild bear who had broken into his California home. Instead of making a run for it, Doodle went nose-to-nose with the bear, barking and wagging his tail — and the entire interaction was captured on a security camera.

Zoe Cadman, Doodle’s pet parent, was woken up to find the bear in her kitchen. She tried to scream and roar at the bear, reported WLOX — but nothing phased the giant. Doodle tried another tactic, racing toward the creature and standing her ground, even after the bear took a gentle swipe toward him. Eventually, Doodle gave up and skedaddled. The bear eventually left on their own, and Doodle was rewarded for her efforts with a steak dinner.

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The video shows that the bear is tagged; tags are used to identify bears who have had interactions with humans, which means this wasn’t the first time this bear caused mischief. In fact, it wasn’t even the bear’s first instance of breaking-and-entering that day. Neighbors on the same street had witnessed the bear climb into their homes — and even take a dip in a pool.

One neighbor, Alice Atkins, told KCAL News that the bear had entered her home in the afternoon and calmly grabbed a snack from her kitchen. “It opened up the freezer, not a scratch on the freezer, and it ... went through the pizza and chowed down on the pancetta and bacon,” Atkins told KCAL.

How to protect your dog from bears

While no one anticipates a bear entering their home, there are some ways to reduce the likelihood of attracting wildlife. California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials recommend locking doors and windows, and not keeping any food or meals (including trash) in areas that are accessible by bears. Strongly scented items like sunscreen should also be kept out of yards, BBQ grills should be cleaned after each use and stored in a shed or garage, and ripe or fallen fruit should be collected. Motion-activated lights and sensory deterrents like ammonia can help deter bears.

At night, pets should be kept indoors. If a bear is present, it’s best to keep your dog as far away from them as possible — however brave your pup may be. Bears will often defend themselves if confronted by an excited dog, and that’s a dangerous situation for a pup to be in.

If your dog does happen to end up face-to-face with a bear, Doodle’s outcome is pretty much the best case scenario. Watch the heroic encounter below.