Caught on camera: Family's dog fends off bear in Sullivan County
It was the family's first time seeing a bear at their home since moving to the area a year ago.
More Stories
Home surveillance camera footage showed a dog protecting its family's home in Bloomingburg from a bear earlier this week.
The video shows Octavia, a 50-pound, 3-year-old German shepherd and husky mix, outside on a leash when it barked at the animal for a few seconds before the bear turned away.
"I just look at my dog every day and I'm like.. 'You just stood up to a bear like three days ago, like do you even know what you did?'" said pet owner Brittani Byrum in a Zoom interview Wednesday.
The surveillance system alerted her boyfriend about the movement then they heard the dog barking.
"He goes to get her, and I guess simultaneously had the camera pulled up on his phone and he was like 'Oh my God. there's a huge bear outside.' and I was like 'You're lying to me.'" described Byrum. "He pulled up the camera and I am shook. And it was not a small bear as you saw. She was so nonchalant, barking at this bear, like 'Hey, get off my lawn.'''
It was the family's first time seeing a bear at their home since moving to the area a year ago.
"I think it just goes to say that a dog is man's best friend," said Byrum. "She's not a very big dog. She's like 50 to 60 pounds. But...they will defend you when they feel that their home is being threatened, and that was really cool to see."
