I have a Cairn terrier. She is small - 20 pounds - but she is not a yapper- or yipper, for that matter. These days though, she worries me. There currently is a big black bear hanging around and Meggie goes into a teethsnapping, growling, barking, galloping frenzy when she sees or smells one. If she got too close, one swipe of the bear's paw could take her out.

Since the other morning though I'm starting to relax a little about it- the bear bluster-charged her and Meggie ran backward several yards and didn't go quite as close again. So maybe she has enough sense to avoid catastrophe.

This particular bear is in good shape but they say that as a whole the bears are hungry this year. With all the rain it's been a bad year for berries; a lot of bears won't make it through the winter.