Black bear
Black bear
It was a close call for Judy Milden as she went toe to toe with a black bear.

"I've never seen a big bear that close before (or) actually touched it, so that was pretty wild too," said Milden.

Milden said Saturday night she let her dogs out before bed. That's when they started barking in the distance.

Milden said she initially thought it was just raccoons, but it turns out it was a mother bear and her cubs. That's when the bear attacked one of her dogs.

"I wasn't even thinking about anything with me. I was just worried about the dog," Milden said.

Milden said the bear attacked her dog a few feet from her back porch, but when she tried to step in to help, the bear hit her. The blow knocked her all the way back down a hill into her porch.

Milden said she wasn't scared during the attack. She said she just had to save her dogs.

"When I was on the ground I was thinking, oh my god, I've got to get in the house with my animals, because they were right there and I got to get up and get in," said Milden. "And that's exactly what I did."

After the attack, Milden said she was left with cuts on her arm and a few on her legs.

Her dog's wounds are still healing too.

While Midlen said she would do it all again to protect her dogs, she does have advice for others.

"Don't leave your trash out. We aren't even feeding the birds anymore. We can't. I mean I don't want that to happen again, and I don't want anyone killing bears either," said Milden.

Milden said in the future if she sees a bear, she'll be watching them from the window and not up close.

According to the national park service, you should never let a bear approach you. Keep a safe distance, and make loud noises to try and scare it away.