Overview
The Michigan Dogman is described as a seven-foot, upright, dog-headed creature seen in the woods of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Witnesses often mention blue or amber eyes, a powerful canine build with a human-like torso, and a howl that sounds like a person screaming. Most reports stress that it walks on two legs.
The legend as we know it took shape in 1987, when disc jockey Steve Cook of WTCM-FM in Traverse City recorded a song called 'The Legend' as an April Fool's joke. The song wove together a story going back to 1887, when two lumberjacks in Wexford County are said to have seen a creature with a man's body and a dog's head. Cook said he invented the tale, yet more than a hundred listeners contacted him with sightings.
The song also introduced the idea that the Dogman appears in years ending in seven. Since then, reports from earlier decades have been gathered, and new ones keep coming. Author Linda Godfrey compared Michigan reports to Wisconsin's Beast of Bray Road, and the two are often discussed together as 'upright canine' sightings. Skeptics point to the song's role in shaping the legend and to wolves, large dogs and bears as likely culprits. Cook himself remains skeptical but has said he believes people saw something.
Timeline
- 1887Two lumberjacks in Wexford County are said to see a dog-headed man.
- 1937Robert Fortney is attacked by wild dogs near Paris, Michigan; one walks upright, he says.
- 1950sReports in Allegan County.
- 1967Sightings around Manistee and Cross Village.
- 1987Steve Cook's song 'The Legend' airs on WTCM-FM.
- 1993-1994Reports in the Grand Haven area.
- 2003Linda Godfrey compares Manistee reports to the Beast of Bray Road.
- 2010The Dogman is featured on MonsterQuest.
Reported sightings
Wexford County, Michigan
1887 Told story
Two lumberjacks are said to have seen a creature with a man's body and a dog's head. This is the starting point of the Dogman story as told in Steve Cook's 1987 song. No contemporary record of the 1887 report has been found, so it sits on the line between folklore and history.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgNear Paris, Michigan
1937 Told story
Robert Fortney said he was attacked by a pack of wild dogs and that one of them stood up and walked on its hind legs. The account is often cited as one of the earliest Dogman-like reports.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAllegan County, Michigan
1950s Told story
Reports of an upright, dog-like animal from Allegan County in the 1950s are part of the Dogman record. Details are thin, but these cases are often listed to show the sightings predate the 1987 song.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgManistee and Cross Village, Michigan
1967 Told story
Sightings near Manistee and at Cross Village, at the top of the Lower Peninsula, came in a year ending in seven, which believers link to the creature's supposed ten-year cycle.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgWTCM-FM, Traverse City, Michigan
April 1987 On the record
Disc jockey Steve Cook recorded 'The Legend' as an April Fool's prank, combining an 1887 story with other details from his imagination. After it aired, over a hundred people called or wrote to tell him about their own sightings.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgGrand Haven area, Michigan
December 1993 Told story
A witness reported a dog-like creature in a driveway near Grand Haven. It was one of several reports from the area in the early 1990s.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgGrand Haven area, Michigan
1994 Told story
A vehicle reportedly struck an animal, and gray fur was said to be found afterward. Like most Dogman cases, the fur was not formally identified.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEvidence
Witness reports Unexplained
Dozens of reports describe a large, upright canine; little physical evidence has been documented.
1994 fur Disputed
Gray fur said to be found after a vehicle collision; no published lab result.
'The Legend' song (1987) Explained
Its writer says he made up the story, which shows how much of the modern legend began as entertainment.
What each side says
What witnesses and researchers report
People who report the Dogman often describe a creature far larger than any dog and able to stand and walk upright, and they insist it was not a bear. Many say they were frightened and had no wish to be ridiculed.
Researchers note that some reports predate the 1987 song, and that similar descriptions come from Wisconsin and elsewhere.
What skeptics and scientists suggest
Steve Cook has said he made up the song's story, and skeptics argue the song created a template that later witnesses matched. The 'years ending in seven' cycle comes from the song.
Likely explanations include wolves, coyotes, large dogs and bears, which can briefly stand on their hind legs. Investigators of the Beast of Bray Road point to the same animals and to mange.
Open questions
- Did the 1887 lumberjack story exist before 1987?
- Why do so many reports describe an animal walking on two legs?
Visiting
Where: Wexford, Manistee and Allegan counties in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
Access: Mostly state and national forest land; no official site.
Did you know?
- The Dogman's 'year ending in seven' pattern comes from Steve Cook's song.
- Linda Godfrey's book The Beast of Bray Road tracked a similar upright canine in Wisconsin.