I believe in North America, the same advice is generally true, except for black bears, which are pretty stupid and easily scared away. The Humane Society advises you in the case of a black bear sighting to make yourself appear larger and more aggressive than the bear, and the bear will almost always run away. If the bear does attack, you can’t play dead. You have to fight back.

There are plenty of news stories about black bears being warded off by small dogs. They’re not much of a threat.