Glad you and your dog are ok, but to be brutally honest with you, you could have accomplished the same thing by shouting, making any other loud noise or throwing a rock in his direction. That bear was obviously more curious than a threat. Unfortunately, too many people would would have just let fly at the bear rather than scaring him off as you did, and say they were "attacked" and the gun was the only thing that saved their life. Sad but true.