‘Lucky to be alive’: Woman fends off bear in woods after animal nearly kills her dog

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) - A bear is the last thing anyone would want to meet face to face when in the woods. Even worse, hearing your dog run into the bear first.

Lori Price said that’s what she encountered when out foraging for mushrooms last Sunday around Skilak Lake.

“I heard the bear and I registered what was going on,” she said. “My sudden reaction was, I have to get to my dog now.”

Price lives in Cooper Landing and says she was with her chocolate lab, Willis, and her German short-haired pointer, Chaos, that day.

She was also carrying bear spray and a pistol.

“I pulled my pistol ... like a sack of potatoes; the bear went down,” Price said.

After that, Price’s other dog, Willis, was unharmed and ran to her side, and she looked to see if Chaos was OK. Despite seeing blood everywhere, he was still moving.

“I was checking on him ... and then all of a sudden the bear gets up,” Price said.

The Cooper Landing resident said she then shot the bear another time and he went down. But somehow the animal got back up again.

“All of a sudden, the bear gets up again. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God. What?’” Price said. “So, I tried to shoot it a third time.”

The trio didn’t wait around to see if the third shot landed and high-tailed it away as fast as possible. When looking back, Price said she saw the bear lumbering off in the other direction.

While running toward her car, Price said she called 911 and attempted to give the dispatcher as many details as possible.

Unfortunately, cell phone reception kept cutting in and out, but the dispatcher was able to send emergency services to Price.

Upon reaching her car, Price flagged down a passing driver and told them they had just been attacked and that her dog was mauled. While she was talking to them, Homer police arrived.

“They were trying to render first aid; my dog is bleeding a lot, like he had a lot of blood loss,” she said.

After reassuring the paramedics that she was OK, Price drove to a veterinary hospital.

“Dr. Patrick called me from the veterinary clinic, and I owe him my dog’s life,” Price said.

Chaos was ready to go home that night, and while he would need time to heal, he would make a full recovery.

“He had so many bite marks on him. It was like the bear thought he was like a little sardine,” Price said.

Chaos has since recovered his ability to walk and is doing a lot better.

“Obviously, we’re going through a lot of recovery, but he is really lucky to be alive,” Price said.