A five-pound Pomeranian named Scout has gone viral after turning into an unlikely guard dog, chasing a black bear out of his West Vancouver home earlier this month.
The rare encounter happened on Aug. 4 and was captured on Kayla Kleine’s home security cameras. The footage shows the bear casually strolling in through the patio door, sniffing around the kitchen and tucking into Scout’s food dish.
“I had music playing (and) didn’t hear the bear come in,” Kleine said. “It wandered around then ate Scout’s food in the kitchen.”
That is when Scout burst onto the scene, barking and growling as he drove the much larger animal straight out the door it came in. The bear retreated off the property with Scout on its heels.
“Scout heard and chased the bear out of the house and off the property,” Kleine recalled. “He just likes to assert his dominance, or like we’ll call him the alpha dog.”
Security footage shows Scout, a five-pound Pomeranian, chasing a black bear out of his West Vancouver home on Aug. 4.
Kleine’s TikTok caption summed it up simply: “The bear was in our kitchen for a few min eating the dog food…” The clip, later reshared by journalist Colin Rugg on X, has been watched thousands of times. In a follow-up video, Scout can be seen proudly patrolling the backyard, ready to take on any other bears who dare to drop by.
This was not the first visit. Kleine says the bear and its mother had been to the property before, even breaking down a section of backyard fence to wander in.
While Scout’s solo stand is impressive, he is not the first small dog to send a bear running. In 2021, Pasadena’s Mei Mei and Squirt, two tiny terriers, were caught on camera chasing a bear off their property, with the startled animal reportedly leaving behind “a trail of urine” in its hurry to escape.
WildSafeBC reminds residents that while these clips make for entertaining stories, chasing bears is dangerous for both pets and people. In Scout’s case, the score stands: Pomeranian 1, Black Bear 0.
