Ruth LaBarge has owned and trained exotic animals for the entertainment industry for over thirty years.  Specializing in bears, Ruth has the largest selection of working Kodiak Bears in North America, and the only working ‘team’ of Kodiak bears.  Her bears have appeared in numerous major motion pictures as well as television and print advertising.  Ruth's extensive knowledge and experience of bears has encouraged a demand for bear presentations. These presentations include bear safety and bear awareness and how people should behave in bear country, emphasis on respecting bears in their"backyard". The "Bear...With Us clan has spent time in parks like Discovery Wildlife Park a division of Doug's Zoo (www.dougszoo.com). not only exhibiting the bears in natural habitats but also doing several bear presentations on a daily basis. To add to the bears repertoire Ruth has taught the bears to paint. People are able to pick the colors for their paintings and have several pictures taken of the painting being created.

Our two black bear cubs, already seasoned performers in the Canadian production A Bear Called Winnie, debuted in Canada on December 4th 2004.  Click on their picture to the left to visit their web page.

Ruth has also added 3 new animals to the working troop.  Digger, a badger, has joined the family as well as  Spanky and Weezer, the 95 pound American Bulldogs, both becoming stars with many behaviors and credits