We have bears on the property every summer. Luckily, they have never been much of a nuisance ever since we started keeping our trash bin secured in the garage. Funny but my dog never bothered with bears and the bears virtually ignored my dog. She left the wild turkey and the bear alone, but she disliked the deer... she got stomped by a doe when she was a puppy. She took it as her duty to keep the deer away.
Now that my dog is gone, I have noticed loads of more deer coming through. This weekend we had a parade of Wild Turkey walk right by me when I was out in the yard, and a handful of doe and a young buck just stood and gawked at me when I was inspecting my fruit trees. I got within "wrestling" distance to them. They are fond of the plums and apples I think.
K