Man’s Best Friend Recognized as Dog of the Year For Saving Him from a Bear Attack

Craig Campbell and his Doberman named Night – Supplied, Craig Campbell

A Canadian dog-lover has gotten to learn all over again why they call the animal Man’s best friend after his own brave pooch deterred a bear attack.

On a familiar trail in Cochrane, near Calgary, Craig Campbell was on a walk with his dog, a 10-year-old Doberman named Night. It was a trail he had taken with Night several times, but the routine physical activity suddenly turned into a life or death situation.

There in the bushes, a grizzly sow with her 2 cubs had wandered into the woods sandwiched between farms. Even still, Campbell had his bear spray, but having it is only half the challenge; the other half is using it.

“I managed two thoughts,” Campbell recalled in an interview with CTV News. “First of all, I said to myself, ‘This can’t be happening.’ And then I realized I wasn’t going to get the bear spray out (in time) and I said to myself, ‘I’m about to die.’”

Just then, Night came from beside in a flash and put himself between man and bear. Towering 7 feet on its hind legs above the crouching, barking dog, it gave enough time for Campbell to arm himself, but by then the bear huffed and went back to her cubs.

An avid trainer, Campbell has for years been training Night in the German sport of Schutzhund, often used to train the breed and others like it as police dogs. He believes this is why Night ran at the bear when others might have ran away, tail between their legs as it were.

“He is a very brave dog,” Campbell said. “To have an animal that literally stood between me and death, there’s no better friend than that.”

The story won Night an award in Purina’s Animal Hall of Fame for 2025, Canada’s longest-running pet recognition award. Inductees receive a medallion, recognition at a ceremony in Toronto, and one year’s worth of free pet food.Despite the sports and the bravery, Campbell said Night is a playful dog too, loving few things more than jumping into a stream and watching minnows swim through his paws.

s-best-friend-recognized-as-dog-of-the-year-for-saving-him-from-a-bear-attack. Man's Best Friend Recognized as Dog of the Year For Saving Him from a Bear Attack

Read More........→October 30, 2025

New Study of 10,000+ People Revealed Regular Physical Activity Is Linked to Larger Healthier Brains

– credit, Getty Images for Unsplash +

In a new study, scientists seeking to better understand how physical activity protects against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s found it’s because exercise makes the brain larger.

2 to 3 days of moderate to vigorous physical activity was correlated to a significant increase in total brain matter and in specific regions like the temporal lobe and hippocampus.

To ensure the record is understood absolutely clearly—there’s no doubt that physical activity protects the brain from neurodegenerative diseases, including mild and severe cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, and other forms of dementia.

The Canadian/American research team sought to better understand the mechanisms behind this effect.

Light physical activity, number of steps taken per day, and number of city blocks traversed per day, are all modalities that have been used to measure connections between physical activity and preventing these diseases, showing that even pedestrian, non-athletic, non-sportive activity can be neuroprotective in some cases.

One of the main culprits, in a positive sense, for this effect is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is released into the brain during periods of exercise where it lowers neuro-inflammation, improves synaptic connection, and performs other functions too numerous to list here.

The study benefitted from the use of a deep-learning neural network that allowed for multiple MRI scans of the same brain to be analyzed rapidly.

10,000 participants (and their brains) with an average age of 54, but ranging from 18 to 97, who were about half men and half women made up the study cohorts.

Exercise was self-reported—an inevitable flaw when conducting large population studies like this one. Participants were asked how many days of the week they engaged in 10 minutes or more of moderate or vigorous intensity exercise.

While previous studies quantified moderate and vigorous intensity through heartbeats per minute, this and other more modern studies simply define moderate as being engaged in physical activity and still being able to talk, but not being able to sing. Vigorous was defined as being in a state where only a few words could be spoken before pausing to breathe.

10,125 brain MRI scans were examined, and it was determined that a higher number of days of moderate to vigorous physical activity “predicted larger normalized brain volumes in multiple regions, including total gray matter volume, total white matter volume, hippocampus, frontal cortex, parietal lobes, and occipital lobe,” the authors wrote.

This was particularly true for the occipital lobe, parietal lobe, hippocampus, posterior cingulate, and temporal lobe, which all had correlative significance (also known as the p-value) of 6 or higher. A result of 6 or higher is typically when scientists begin to take notice of correlations—trained as they are to take them always with a grain of salt.

Brain matter and size are all predictors of better cognitive and neurological health as we age, while neurodegenerative diseases are often found in less-dense brains.

“The study included adults aged 18-97, showing it’s never too early or late to start,” wrote Chris Kresser, founder of the California Center for Functional Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

“While 75% of participants reported doing some regular physical activity, many didn’t meet standard exercise guidelines—yet still showed brain benefits. This adds to growing evidence that even modest physical activity can protect brain health.”

“Notably, moderate exercise appeared more beneficial than vigorous activity, suggesting you don’t need to be a super-athlete to reap the brain benefits,” he added. New Study of 10,000+ People Revealed Regular Physical Activity Is Linked to Larger Healthier Brains

Read More........→October 09, 2025