Beyond the Beyond: The Michigan Dogman

Beyond the Beyond: The Michigan Dogman

In 1887 in Wexford County, Michigan, two men had a strange encounter. They were loggers, finishing up a job, when they saw a shadow dart through the trees and stop to watch them. As it got closer, they saw what it was: a giant, seven-foot-tall dog or wolf with what appeared to be the body of a man. They didn’t stick around long enough to get a closer look.

Nothing was seen after that. At least nothing was reported. In 1937, in Paris, Michigan, Robert Fortney was out hunting in the woods when five dogs attacked him and knocked him down, pulling at his clothes and skin from every side. Before he escaped, he glanced back and saw that one of them was standing on two legs.

In 1987, a disc jockey named Steve Cook at WTCM-FM in Traverse City, Michigan, recorded an April Fools’ song called “The Legend,” which poked fun at the legend of a giant dog that would terrorize people every seven years. To his surprise, calls started pouring in from people claiming to have seen the beast. The song became a viral hit before viral hits were a thing, and he sold hundreds of tapes for four dollars apiece to interested parties. Over the years, Cook claims to have had at least a hundred sightings of the so-called Dogman.

Additional reports eventually surfaced in Grand Haven, Ottawa County, during the years of 1993–1994. Several of these accounts came from a local man identified only as “Ben,” who told of an encounter with a creature on three separate occasions near his parents’ home. One of the most startling incidents occurred in December 1993, when Ben said he saw the figure standing upright behind a vehicle in his parents’ driveway on Lakewood Drive. According to his account, the animal remained on its hind legs until he began yelling, at which point it fled the area.

Okay… but is this just Michigan? Upright dog stories are not confined to the Great Lakes area. Similar reports have been found in Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, and across the Appalachian region. Skinwalker Ranch, a supposed paranormal hub in Utah’s Uintah Basin, has had several reports of a similar creature over the last few decades. What’s interesting about this area, however, is that it is a known hotspot for UFOs, other cryptids, and other strange happenings.

Perhaps what people are seeing is not an animal at all, but a manifestation of the same phenomenon that runs through most of my writings. Instead of asking, “What is Dogman?” perhaps we should be asking, “What kind of event is Dogman?” Maybe it’s not some fixed form, but an entity or entities that take the form of whatever cultural expectation the witness possesses at the time of the sighting. Perhaps those witnesses have come across an area, a portal, or something else they just aren’t meant to see, and the injection of some fearful animal into their mind is a way of scaring them off. Or maybe what they’re seeing is so frightening, so different, so intense, that the only way the mind can cope with it is to create something that fits into their narrow view of reality.

Have you seen a Dogman? Message @beyondthebeyond1 on Instagram.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Eastern Sierra Now. Readers are encouraged to conduct further research and consult with relevant experts or professionals before making any decisions or taking any actions based on the information provided in this article.

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TM Rush