When a potentially injured bear was reported near the Klahanie Shopping Center in Issaquah recently, state Fish and Wildlife officers responded within about 10 minutes.

Fifteen minutes after arriving, officer Bruce Richards was able to give the all-clear. The bear had been in the greenbelt not far from the stores and daycare, but was no longer in the immediate area. Richards felt comfortable making that declaration so quickly because of the help of Mishka, a wildlife service dog.

Trained from birth to track and “shepherd” bears, Karelian bear dogs like 5-year-old Mishka are an unquestioned boon to wildlife enforcement, officers say.

“That dog is gold,” officer Chris Moszeter said. “In the bear world, having a dog like that can let us know where the bear is before we ever see it.”

The case in Issaquah, when Mishka quickly determined that the bear had left the area, is just one of countless examples of the dog effectively tracking bears throughout the Eastside and south King County areas in recent years. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) has had about three bear cases per week for the past month or so, including two in the Maple Valley area and five in the Covington area.

While hounds have been used by the department for years on a volunteer basis, more so on cougar cases than for bears, most officers don’t have regular access to wildlife service dogs trained specifically for use in enforcement.

Before Mishka’s time, Richards would occasionally even use his family’s yellow lab, usually referred to simply as “Yellow Dog,” to track bear and cougars.

“It became very evident that having a dog would be a clear plus,” Richards said. And so, even without specialized training, Yellow Dog was able to assist on a number of cases.

When Fish and Wildlife biologist and large carnivore specialist Rocky Spencer heard about Karelian bear dogs being used successfully in Montana and Alberta, Canada, he was immediately interested in bringing one to western Washington.

“It’s so efficient to have a dog that you could carry with you,” Richards explained. “Rocky saw the advantage. We both did.”

So, Spencer went out and solicited donations to cover the cost of purchasing Mishka, then raised him at home and on the job. Mishka helped out on whatever Spencer was studying, tracking or trapping — primarily cougars but some bears, as well.

“When Rocky got Mishka, it turned him from an incredible biologist into an incredible team, because Rocky knew everything that you needed to know about cougars and bears,” said Chris Felstad, who recently retired as a commander with the Issaquah Police Department and has known Spencer for about 25 years. “He was 10 times better when Mishka was with him. I think we are just realizing that dogs are not just an attack tool.”

He recounted a tale about Mishka facing off with a very large bear in the Issaquah Highlands while he and Spencer looked on.

“Mishka was warning the bear off from Rocky, and Rocky was standing very calmly loading his dart gun, knowing that Mishka would protect him,” Felstad said. “It was incredible watching the two of them together.”

Last fall, Spencer was accidentally killed by the rotating blades of a helicopter during a relocation project. He was known by animal lovers, researchers, police and many others throughout the state.

“After Rocky’s tragic death, ‘What are we gonna do with Mishka?’ was a big question,” said Capt. Bill Hebner, a regional supervisor for DFW. The problem was that Spencer was one of only two carnivore specialists in Fish and Wildlife’s biology arm, and Spencer’s counterpart on the east side of the mountains began working with another Karelian bear dog shortly after Spencer got Mishka. So, officials in the enforcement program here decided to take Mishka in a pilot-project capacity, and Richards became the dog’s new handler.

“We said let’s see what happens after a year and if it works well, make it permanent and even look at expanding it,” Hebner said. “He’s been such a benefit, I couldn’t imagine anyone saying we should give him back.”

In a time when all types of government budgets are tight — Fish and Wildlife hasn’t been able to fill Spencer’s position, Hebner said — Mishka has earned his keep many times over.

“Mishka brings a lot to the table,” he said. “He’s saved us countless hours in finding bears and helped with heard releases.”

‘Bear shepherding’

While trapping and relocating a bear isn’t ideal — officers would prefer to leave the animals in their natural habitat if they can — it is sometimes necessary. Richards and Spencer pioneered DFW’s methods for trapping and relocating bears and cougars. They developed a net that can be placed at the base of a tree to catch a bear or cougar that is treed and needs to be caught. Richards recently came up with a new kind of bear trap similar to the wire cages used to capture raccoons, which has already been used with great success on bears that won’t go into the culvert-style traps.

DFW officers are skilled at tracking bears, but can still sometimes search for hours and not find a bear. “The bear dog is nice because it’s more of a surgical process. You can use the dog to track it, trap it or tree it,” Moszeter said. “It’s just more precise.”

Historically, Karelian bear dogs were bred in Finland for hunting moose and bear. Wildlife biologist Carrie Hunt founded the Wind River Bear Institute in Montana in 1995 and began breeding and training the dogs. The institute offers public education about bears and also uses a technique that Hunt developed called “bear shepherding” to safely and effectively handle bears.

In addition to Karelian bear dogs used by officials, ranchers and others in the United States and Canada, Hunt has placed dogs throughout the country and as far away as Japan.

After recently trapping a bear in Fall City that had busted into a garage to get to some garbage, officers tranquilized the estimated 9-year-old, 200-pound female and gave her a checkup. Then, before taking the bear for a long drive up into the Cascade Mountains, officers gave it a shot of reversal so that she would be awake and ready for release into the wild when they arrived.

The older a bear is, the more homing instinct they seem to have.

“This bear, no matter where we put it, is going to try to find its way home,” Richards said.

The officers arranged the trap so that the bear would come out and see their trucks, a fire pit, Mishka and the officers. The idea is to show the bear a few things she may associate with humans and hopefully re-instill a fear of people and dogs.

While they prepared to release the bear, Mishka barked relentlessly outside the large, steel trap. When he didn’t get enough response from the bear inside, he jumped up to bark louder and closer to the grate-covered window in the trap door. Feeling a bit groggy from the tranquilizer and reversal drug, the bear eventually snarled back at Mishka.

“Get that bear, Mishka!” Richards encouraged him.

As soon as Moszeter opened the trap door, the bear poked its nose out, jumped down and, in a flurry of confusion, yelling, barking and beanbag shots, lumbered quickly into the dense forest. After giving the bear a moment’s head start, Richards unclipped Mishka from the leash and let him give chase. Within seconds, he could tell from Mishka’s bark that the dog was facing off with the bear. He quickly whistled Mishka back.

“Good dog, Mishka,” Richards and Moszeter praised him.

The release was picture-perfect, the officers said.

“I figure this is what the people of the state of Washington would want,” Richards said. “Do it once, and do it right. Now, it’s up to the bear.”