State’s first Karelian Bear Dog retires after 12 years of service

Published 8:00 am Monday, March 30, 2015

Washington State’s first Karelian bear dog, Mishka, is retiring after 12 years of service managing hundreds conflicts with bears, cougars and other dangerous wildlife.

Mishka was enlisted for duty as a puppy from the Wind River Bear Institute in Montana, where the dogs are bred and trained in the centuries-old tradition of hunters and farmers in Finland and western Russia, by Rocky Spencer, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, in 2003. After Spencer died from a helicopter accident while net-gunning bighorn sheep, Mishka was given to WDFW enforcement officer Bruce Richards and served the Puget Sound region since 2007.

The black and white dogs, averaging 40 to 65 pounds, are instinctively bold with bears and can be trained to track, help capture and deter them from returning to places where they can get in trouble with humans. Richards, who is also retiring this spring after 41 years, says Mishka solved more bear problems in a year than most officers can in a career.

“I am very proud to have been a part of this innovative way to address human-wildlife conflicts that helps both bears and people and builds teamwork between our enforcement and wildlife programs,” Richards said. “Mishka has served Washington wildlife enthusiasts well and has more than earned retirement.”

WDFW now uses five other dogs to haze bears, assist in law-enforcement investigations, locate injured and orphaned wildlife and help educate the public about ways to avoid conflicts with wildlife. Three dogs are used by WDFW officers in western Washington, and the two others are used by WDFW bear and cougar biologist Rich Beausoleil of Wenatchee.