A Vancouver Island police dog named Rook has proven to be more than a rookie by protecting his handler from a black bear and her two cubs, and then going on to catch a suspected criminal the same morning.

Mounties in Port Alberni, B.C., say the dog and his handler, Const. Jarrod Trickett, stumbled across the bears outside Trickett's home early Wednesday and the dog immediately went into protection mode and took on the bears.

While one cub escaped up a telephone pole, the other two bears clashed with the dog for what Trickett said "seemed like an eternity."

After considering several ideas to get the dog out of the situation, Trickett said he yelled at the dog to get in the truck and remarkably the dog disengaged.

RCMP say the bears didn't appear to suffer any serious injuries because they were soon seen running across a road, and Rook was given the all-clear after a checkup with a local veterinarian.

The dog quickly shook off the battle, and within hours Rook successfully tracked a criminal suspect for more than a kilometre through brambles, bush and mud.