The Dogman is described as a muscular canine that can stand and walk on its hind legs, often 6 to 7 feet tall, with a wolf-like head and pointed ears. Witnesses frequently mention amber or red eyeshine and a feeling of intense dread.
In 1987 DJ Steve Cook of WTCM radio in Traverse City aired a song called The Legend as an April Fools' joke. Listeners began calling in with their own sightings, and the Michigan Dogman legend grew from there. Wisconsin's related Beast of Bray Road made headlines in 1991 near Elkhorn.
What witnesses report
- Upright canine silhouette on hind legs
- Amber or red eyeshine at head height
- Growls and howls that sound wrong
- Large canine tracks with deep heel prints
Witness stories
First-hand accounts people have shared publicly, retold in full and credited to them. All witness stories
Reader reports
Encounters sent in by our readers and checked by a moderator.
Famous cases
- 1887Lumberjacks see a man with a dog's head
Wexford County, MichiganThe story usually given as the first Dogman encounter: two lumberjacks said they saw a creature with a man's body and a dog's head. Local lore says it comes back every ten years, in years ending in seven.
- 1937Attacked by a pack, one on two legs
Paris, MichiganRobert Fortney said five wild dogs attacked him and one of them walked on two legs. Similar creatures were reported in Allegan County in the 1950s and at Cross Village and Manistee in 1967.
- 1987"The Legend" broadcast
Traverse City, MichiganOn 1 April 1987 Steve Cook, a DJ at WTCM-FM in Traverse City, played a song he had recorded called 'The Legend' about a dog-headed creature, as an April Fools' joke. Listeners began calling in with their own sightings and it became the station's most requested song. Cook has since received more than 100 reports, and the 'Dogman' name stuck.
- 1991Beast of Bray Road
Elkhorn, WisconsinIn 1991 reporter Linda Godfrey began covering reports of a wolf-like creature, sometimes seen walking upright, along Bray Road near Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Her articles and later book linked it to the wider Dogman legend. Skeptics suggest witnesses saw wolves, large dogs or bears with mange.
- 1993Standing behind the car in the driveway
Grand Haven, MichiganA man known only as Ben said that in December 1993 he saw an upright canine standing on its hind legs behind a car in his parents' driveway on Lakewood Drive. It ran off when he screamed. In 1994 another driver nearby said he hit something he took for a deer but found only grey fur in the grille.
- 1997A cabin break-in at Luther
Luther, MichiganAfter hearing a report of an unknown canine breaking into a cabin near Luther, DJ Steve Cook added new verses to 'The Legend', the April Fool's song that started the Dogman craze. He says he has received more than 100 reports since 1987.
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