Normally, huskies and polar bears are bitter enemies. Huskies were the essential element that let Eskimos hunt the great white bear in the old days. Polar bears paid back the favor by stealing individual huskies for food, or sometimes going down a line of chained dogs and killing them one by one just out of malice. It was a remarkable feat of empathy and sensitivity on the part of the bear to overcome the dog's natural suspicions and fears. A true Arctic husky KNOWS, to the marrow of his bones, that polar bears are his greatest enemy.
Rarely, polar bears have made friends (more or less) with humans, though humans are really the only thing they have to fear. One operator of a tundra buggy for tourists in the Cape Churchill area was befriended by a big male he called Ozzie. Ozzie recognised his name and also the face of his friend and would come running up as soon as he saw the man or heard his name called. Ozzie would rear up and put his huge paws on the viewing platform, his head extending well above the rail. He would then turn his big head so his friend could easily reach to scratch his ears, something Ozzie greatly enjoyed. The man never felt threatened in Ozzie's presence, but he was the only bear out of several hundred who seemed interested in being friends with a human. I have also seen a photo in National Geographic Magazine showing a driver practically nose-to-nose with a huge bear sticking his enormous head in the window. He was wearing the smiling, half-closed-eyed, "friendly bear" expression that the other bear had used with the husky. The human looked rather awed, but perhaps another of these bears will turn out as friendly as Ozzie.
Another, more complicated case, involved a Swedish researcher who was working on a remote research station in Spitzbergen during the 1960's. He was not allowed to use firearms, but was instead given a Finnish bear spear and several Finnish bear dogs. Their first priority was dealing with a scrawny, arthritic, elderly male that was long past hunting seals easily. He instead seemed intent on sampling "long pig" and was always hobbling painfully along behind him and his partner hoping he could waylay them for dinner. They harrassed him with the dogs and threatened him with the spears to the point he gave up and went away. The local bears were fairly numerous but none too friendly. They would hiss and chuff at the researchers and look threatening. The researchers soon learned to hiss and make blowing noises back at the bears, and would in addition throw snowballs at the bears' feet to get them to back off. They soon came to an uneasy truce with the bears.
