If you come face to face with a real life mountain bear, what would you do?

A 22-year old woman in Juneau, Alaska did the unthinkable - punched a bear in the snout.

Brooke Collins confronted the black bear to save her dachshund dog, Fudge.

Collins told the Juneau Empire that she let her dogs out at about 7:30 p.m., Sunday. She didn't see the bear outside. She added that Fudge ran out and was heard barking. She said that barking was "the most horrible sound in the world."

The sight of a bear holding Fudge with its paws and biting the back of the dog's neck must have been horrible.

"That bear was carrying her like a salmon," she said. "It was all so fast. All I could think about was my dog was going to die."

She went up to the bear, and instinctively, punched it in the head.

"It was a stupid thing but I couldn't help it," she said. "I know you're not supposed to do that but I didn't want my dog to be killed."

By this time her boyfriend Regan O'Toole came out. He said that the bear looked taken aback. The animal went through the driveway and back to the woods.

Fudge suffered minor claw and bite marks, and Brooke plans to take her to the vet if the wounds show signs of infection. Collins remarked that her dog was shocked but not deeply injured. She herself has bite mark on her thumb, when the bear and Fudge bit her during the commotion.

To explain her heroic act, Collins said that she is very close to her dogs. Her other canine is a Pomeranian called Toki. After what happened she intends to keep closer watch on them.

Collins lives in a community on Mount Juneau and her house is near the AWARE shelter. She adds that black bear sightings are very common in the area. She believes that the bear that attacked Fudge has been around many times, and is already used to people.

Bear and Food Sources

Neil Barten, a Juneau-based biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told Reuters that bear encounters are on the rise this year, in spite of residents keeping away food and garbage from the bears' reach.

"Bears and dogs sometimes snarl at each other, but actual attacks on dogs are unusual," he said.

Collins also remarked that her dog Fudge has chased bears but has never been attacked before.

"This year, I think, is a lot worse than last year. I would attribute that to lack of a berry crop," Barten said. "If they are not available, the bears look for other sources of food."

Berry production in Juneau has been poor this summer. This has resulted to the absence of a major food source for the bears, said the Reuters report.

"If they are not available, the bears look for other sources of food," Barten said.

Collins revealed that the black bear that attacked Fudge returned on Tuesday, which was trash pick-up day.

She admitted that the whole experience and physical encounter shook her up. She called it an "eye-opener." She concludes that she would be more careful and refrain from approaching bears in the neighbourhood.