What is The Michigan Dogman?

In 1987, Steve Cook a radio DJ in Michigan, and his producer began working on a song about a local legend in the area and sightings of this mythical creature. Originally meant as an April Fool’s joke, the first few days listeners didn’t provide much feedback on the song. However, that would soon change. Listeners began calling in and asking about it and soon the song exploded in popularity. Perhaps even more shocking, the significant number of listeners would call in and tell their story with the beast. The song, titled “The Legend”, is said to have attracted at least 100 credible reports of this beastly legend, a creature known as the Michigan Dogman. 

The Michigan Dogman is described as a bipedal half-man, half-wolflike creature that roams the Northwestern area of lower Michigan. Said to stand 7 feet tall with blue eyes and a lean muscular torso, many witnesses have reported hearing a terrifying howl that sounds like a human screaming. The creature has been seen for over 100 years at least and sightings have continued to the modern day. It’s said that the creature appears every 7 years. 

In this post, we will highlight just several sightings of this cryptid. It’s important to note though, there have been a significant number more, and many of them in modern times. 

That said, the first sighting we will explore is One of the more well-known sightings that occurred in 1938. 

In the summer of 1938, on the Muskegon River, near the town of Paris, 17-year-old Robert Fortney, was fishing when he would have a terrifying experience that would change his life forever. As he was fishing, Fortney spotted a pack of Wild dogs that were getting ready to attack. Fortney was prepared though, having brought his rifle. To stop getting attacked, he fired a warning shot into the air. At that time, all the dogs fled, except one. 

Ten feet away, a black fur covered dog stared angrily at Fortney with its piercing blue eyes. Fortney fired another shot into the air and this time the creature stood up on two legs staring at Fortney. It was around 6 feet tall. It would then run off into the brush on two legs.

Another well documented popular Dogman sightings occurred in 1961. This one was told from a father to his son, who warned him about going out after dark. 

In 1961, A security guard from Big Rapids Michigan was about to begin his work shift at a manufacturing plant located near a thick marsh. The man’s home was located directly across from the factory, and around 3 am he sat down on his porch to have a cup of coffee. As he was sipping his coffee, the man spotted something move near the gate. The man went in his house and got his gun. As he came out, he was shocked to see a strange wolflike creature standing there staring at him. It was too tall to be a man, being around 7 feet. The man said it would alternate between going on two legs and getting down on all four. Rather than shooting at the beast, the confused, scared man who was an avid photographer, decided to grab his Kodak Signet 35mm camera to snap a photograph. 

He snapped a photograph of the creature. and it appears to be the outline of what could be a tall, wolf-like creature. However, being late at night, the picture lacks detail and clarity making many question it. Still, it should be said since this was shot with celluloid film, the photograph should be considered authentic as celluloid film is extremely hard to manipulate. While this incident didn’t provide the smoking gun evidence, many had hoped for, it did add more support for proponents who believe this creature is real and not a myth. 

A more modern sighting happened in 2004. 

In 2004, Katie Zahn and two friends would allege to witness several dogmen. The three were in a nature preserve in Rock County, Wisconsin. They heard some strange noises in the woods, branches snapping and decided to investigate. As they were walking toward a creek, they spotted three Dogmen drinking from it. Zahn and her friends immediately sprinted away and headed directly for their car then speeding away. Zahn would later state the creatures behaved like humans but were definitely not human.

Many find this story to be an extremely credible Dogman encounter. This is because Katie Zahn took a polygraph of the incident and passed. However, it should be stated no physical evidence exists from the incident like photos or videos, or footprint casts. also, polygraph tests are not 100 reliable. It could also be the case Zahn and her friends mistook another wild animal for the Dogman, and Zahn really believed she saw it, but she actually saw a large wolf or bear. 

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Another modern sighting occurred in 2022 in from a trucker going through Michigan. It’s truly an unbelievable tale that has been covered by various news outlets and other YouTube channels. 

Barger, an army veteran, was driving through northern Michigan in June. Barger says before entering the deep part forest he had an air leak and decided to stop before going into the dense forest. After fixing the air leak, Barger got a bad feeling and got back in his truck and started driving away. However, something was following him. As Barger looked in his right side rearview mirror, he saw something dark. As he looked more closely, he saw a wolflike, muscular creature running alongside his truck. He was driving uphill at this time and going around 20 mph. 

Barger alleges the creature was around 10 feet tall as it was able to look in his cabin, which was 9 feet off the ground. Barger states the creature was aggressively trying to attack him. Terrified, Barger pulled out his gun and shot the creature and it stopped chasing him. 

Barger says he drove up the road and turn around to inspect for the body, but when he went back by the creature had disappeared in the woods. 

Barger’s story is truly unique and one of the more unbelievable Dogman stories that have surfaced in recent years. Despite criticism, Barger is adamant this event occurred and stressed just how frightening the Michigan Dogman is. Barger says he had never heard of the Michigan Dogman before this incident. 

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While the majority of incidents have occurred in Michigan, it’s important to point that in nearby Wisconsin, a legend exists that’s extremely similar to the Michigan Dogman. This creature has become to be known as the beast of bray road, and its description is remarkably similar to the Michigan Dogman . 

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In the 1990’s, Linda Godfrey a reporter was assigned the task of researching this legend for her newspaper. Initially skeptical, Godfrey would interview and find many witnesses were convinced they had seen the creature. Godfrey would write a book named “The Beast of Bray Road” and hence coin the term for this popular cryptid.  In 2005 the story was turned into a horror movie. This creature and the Michigan Dogman are often thought to be the same creature by some. 

The first sighting of the Dogman occurred in 1887 in Wexford, Michigan. Two men, both working as lumberjacks spotted a hideous creature that appeared as half man half wolf. 

With so many sightings over the last 130 years there are various theories as to what the Michigan Dogman is.

Theories: 

The first theory is that the Dogman is some sort of new wolf species, one that evolved to be able to stand on its hind legs. This theory raises the question as to why it would need to, but perhaps it was for survival and needed to be able to in order to fight off other large predators. 

Others believe that the sightings of the Dogman were simply mistaken sightings of a large wolf, perhaps the Yukon wolf or something similar. However, it should be said the Yukon wolf is not native to the area. Others believe the Dogman could be a living dire wolf. Dire wolves were massive wolves that are said to have gone extinct millions of years ago. Perhaps some of them survived.

Other theories suggest that Dogman is something completely different altogether. Perhaps an alien or maybe from another dimension.

There’s been countless theories put out regarding the dogman, however, there doesn’t appear to be a dominant one right now. 

Perhaps with all the sightings that continue, we will discover some evidence that will allow us to determine what this creature is.