^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I am not making this up. It's easy to find news articles about bears turning on dogs.
http://www.ldnews.net/news/126208938.html
http://elkvalleybearaware.wordpress....gs-video-clip/
We spend a lot of time mountain biking in PLPP, s.e. BC etc. Yes, I am aware of the dangers of biking in bear country. We see lots of bears and sometimes the encounters are too close for my liking. The vast (VAST) majority of the time the bear leaves. That goes for blacks and grizzlies. Do I think they are scared of us? Not a chance. Do I think that they just want to be left alone? Absolutely. If bears attacked every time there was an encounter the news would be full of reports of maulings.
Am I suprised to hear that bears run from your dog? Nope
Would I be suprised to hear that your dog ran into the wrong bear one day? Nope.
Again, lots of info available on how to deal with bear encounters. It took a minute to find this from the UofA. You might be interested to see how their recommendations compare to your statements
http://safety.eas.ualberta.ca/node/13
Like most things in life - take your chances.