Bear Continuously 'Bribes' Guard Dog with Deer Bones So It Can Dig Through Family's Trash
A Canadian dog owner was left dumbfounded recently after he realized that a wild animal may have outsmarted him to gain access to his trash.
Jesse Jordan, of Northern Ontario, has had his dog Brickleberry a.k.a. Brick for one year, raising him as his own after the pup’s mom died three days after she birthed a litter of ten.
Though the mastiff/hound/part Beagle mutt looks cuddly, Jordan was hoping to enlist his pet as a guard dog to keep the bears away from his trash at night. One bear, however, clearly had another idea in mind.
In a series of tweets this week, Jordan revealed that his “idiot furry son” had successfully been bribed with a deer bone by a neighborhood bear on three separate occasions.
The bear, he claims, exchanged the bone treat for a little quality time through the family’s trash.
While the first encounter seemed like an accident and the second prompted Jordan to look into bear deterrents, by the third time, he tells PEOPLE he knew the bear was no dummy.
“I declared the bear my nemesis, which was probably pretty awkward for my dog to hear because as someone pointed out in the thread, it’s pretty clear that Brick is friends with this bear at this point,” Jordan jokingly says.
RELATED: Family Realizes Pet Dog Might Be a Bear After Animal Starts to Walk Around on Hind Legs
Jordan first opened up about the hilarious experience in a thread of tweets on Wednesday. He also shared two photos of his pup, who looked happy as ever to chew on his new bones, as well as the aftermath of the bear’s late-night visit.
“My idiot furry son has one job at night – bork at things and make them go away. Easy, right? HOWEVER, a bear has learned that my furry son can be bought,” he wrote. “This is the THIRD TIME he’s been gifted deer bones in exchange for being allowed access to my trash, AND HE KEEPS DOING IT.”
Continuing, Jordan acknowledged how he undeservingly gave his dog a “position of power”, which the canine clearly had no idea how to handle.
“Although I basically handed my dog this position of power, it’s become very clear that he has no idea how to actually do the job properly; now not only do I have to clean up a huge mess, I see him putting his own self-interest first,” he quipped. “Clearly, I have no choice but to impeach him.”
Can’t get enough of cats, dogs and other furry friends? Click here to get the cutest pet news and photos delivered directly to your inbox.
Of the discovery, Jordan tells PEOPLE he knew that something was off from the first time when Brick was found chewing on a bone that he hadn’t bought for his pet.
“I opened my front door to see the garbage bags shredded to pieces, their contents all over the yard, likely from being shaken to get the ‘good stuff’ out,” Jordan explains of the bear’s first encounter.
“Brick was chewing on something that I initially figured was something from the garbage, or maybe a stick — but it turned out to be a big chunk of bone that absolutely wasn’t anything I had bought him,” he adds.
The second time it happened, Jordan says he was more cautious about a possible visitor going through his trash.
“I went and peeked out the front door. Brick was on the step wagging his tail, garbage was undisturbed,” he says. “Thinking nothing of it, I went to bed and woke up to a bigger mess, and brick chomping on a bigger bone.”
Following encounter number two, Jordan says he “scolded” his dog for allowing the bear to get into the trash again, but jokingly acknowledged, “he’s a dog, and probably has no idea what my annoyed bear-oriented cursing meant.”
Despite being bribed three times, Jordan explained on Twitter that he still felt Brick was “the best boi” who was “great with kids and apparently bears.”
He also explained to some followers who expressed concern that he would never allow Brick to sleep outside, which he does from time to time, if he felt the dog’s life would be put in danger.
“I’ll leave you all with one final reminder that black bears are a nuisance in northern Ontario and not typically a threat, meaning Brick is very much not likely to get eaten,” he explained. “If he was, I wouldn’t let him sleep outside.”
Though he’s never witnessed this before, Jordan says he isn’t necessarily surprised by the bear’s behaviors, as this time of year is when the wild animals, whom he referred to as “giant raccoons”, usually scavenge through human trash.
“This time of year, black bears are notorious for raiding trash bins, camps, cottages, orchards,” he tells PEOPLE. “Literally anything that smells like food.”
It wasn’t so typical of Brick, however, whom Jordan said is usually a great guard dog against other wild creatures.
“Brick is normally great at keeping things away from the house,” he says. “He routinely scares off ACTUAL raccoons, foxes, even the odd coyote.”
As for how Jordan plans to prevent encounter number four from occurring?
“Fortunately, the problem is going to get solved incidentally… I’m going to be buying a house about an hour and a half away so I’m closer to the city,” he says. “While Brickle might lose out on his bear buddy, he’ll be able to hang out with some of his furry siblings at a nearby dog park.”
Solve the daily Crossword
