Hello my friends! How have you all been?
Today I want to talk a bit about Dogmen for a change… đ
The reason is that the more you study this subject the harder it becomes to call them Dogmen at all, for reasons I will soon mention. Still, do I have a better term?
No, not really. Even the old name werewolf doesn’t quite fit. I’ll soon tell you why.
I can feel this is going to be a long post…
The term Dogman comes from Michigan. It was the name early observers gave it in an effort to make it fit somewhere, somehow.
I’m sure at the time this was the best way this beast of a creature could be defined, but now it’s been several decades since this being was brought forth into the mainstream mindset via Linda Godfrey’s books, and it might be time to re-think the name.
First of all, not all Dogmen are created equal, however they must be equal enough to belong to the same species.
The canine type Dogman, the classic werewolf-looking one is the one I consider to be a Dogman, but there are more things between heaven and earth and I think some of them are mistakenly placed in the Dogman box. (A very frightening box…)
The so-called Type-3 Dogman first of all is no Dogman. Nor is it a Bigfoot. Its features negate both possibilities. Its simian (ape-like) style legs and its plantigrade walking completely eliminates the possibility of it being a canid.
All canids are digitigrade.
The Type-3’s obvious claws would eliminate it as being a primate as primates have nails.
Thus it’s neither, but it’s no less real. It just needs to be its own type of cryptid, the Type-3, for now and not be lumped in with Dogmen and Bigfoots.
The canine type Dogman also does come in several forms that differ slightly, especially the size and color. Other features that might differ seem to be length of muzzle and ears and also tail characteristics. (Personally I think the length of the muzzle and possibly ears has to to with the age of the Dogman. The smaller ones, presumably juveniles, tend to have a shorter muzzle and ears.)
Still they are similar enough to be, if not the same species then at least the same genus. And that genus is NOTÂ canis!
Very upsetting, I know, and this is why I think it’s time to reconsider the term Dogman.
The term Dogman implies very definitively that this creature is somehow related to dogs or wolves, but is it?
Sure, most witnesses claim its head looked like a giant wolf or german shepherd. They talk about canine-style legs with hocks.
There might be a different explanation for this though, and I’ll get to that later.
I think there really isn’t as much dog in Dogman as we have come to believe, probably not so much man either, and I’ll show you why.
Dogman has hands
No canid species has hands. They have regular front paws. Dogman always have a type of hand, albeit with the padding of paws, but with long, stretched fingers ending in claws.
Rodents have hands like this. Of course I’m not saying that Dogman is a rodent, I’m just pointing it out. There it is.
Primates have hands, but Dogman cannot be a primate because primates walk plantigrade and have simian style legs and Dogman, like I’ve said before, has hocked legs and walk digitigrade.
The fact that Dogman has hands kind of negates the possibility of it being a canine.
Dogman can run bipedally
Now I’m aware there are videos of dogs walking around on two legs out there. It’s true, dogs can develop this ability, either through necessity because of a handicap or by training, but regardless, they can only waddle on for a short while at a time.
Dogmen can run, really run, at speeds matching or even outdoing a cheetah, ON TWO LEGS!
The cheetah has long been thought of as the fastest land animal, capable of speeds of up to 70-75 mph for short periods of time, or 112- 120 km/h in proper measurements đ
Dogman matches this. Like the cheetah it can’t sustain 70 mph indefinitely, but 50-60 mph doesn’t seem to bother it much.
Show me a canine that can do this! On two legs!
Dogman is comfortable climbing trees
Why do dogs not climb trees? They are not constructed for it. While their claws are stronger and thicker than a cat’s claws they are dull and not retractable. A cat’s retractable, sharp claw can penetrate the wood in way a dog’s cannot.
Sure, a dog or a wolf can “climb” if the tree has several good branches it can jump between, but they just can’t climb too far up a bare tree trunk.
But Dogman seems to be as much at home in the trees as it is on the ground according to witnesses.
This fact indicates quite strongly that it isn’t a canine.
Dogman has two nipples
Very important point!
I have personally never heard of a credible Dogman sighting where there were more than two nipples.
This fact, if it’s true, negates the possibility of Dogman being a canine of any sort, as all canines have 6- 10 nipples.
Animals with 2 nipples include elephants, goats, sheep, horses and primates. We’ve already established that a Dogman is not a primate, and it’s unlikely that it’s related to elephants or sheep, but there is another animal that I’ve written about in other posts relating to Dogman that also belongs in the two-nipple category-
the hyena.
And more on hyenas in a little bit.
Dogman is always male
Obviously Dogmen can’t all be males? Yet to this day I haven’t heard a single witness talk about seeing a female Dogman.
I’ve heard witnesses being unsure but assuming it was a male because of its tremendous size. In many cases they are sure because they actually see the genitalia.
But here’s an interesting tidbit, speaking of the aforementioned hyenas, female hyenas are actually larger than the males. And that’s not all. Female hyenas have a pseudo-penis, almost indistinguishable from a male’s regular penis.
Could it be, assuming the Dogman is related to hyenas, that witnesses see both males and females but are unable to tell one from the other?
More on hyenas
Hyenas are no more related to wolves than your house cat is.
Yet they look like this:
and this:
and this:
The reason for this likeness to wolves despite lack of particularly close relations is:
Convergent evolution
whereby organisms not closely related, independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches
The most famous example of convergent evolution is the wolf/ thylacine similarities.
The thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, and the wolf, the former being a (possibly extinct) marsupial from the Australian region and the latter being a regular mammal from Eurasia and North America, have been genetically separated for 160 million years or so. Yet they have both developed very similar features because of their respective adaption to very similar life circumstances.
Fritz Geller-Grimm, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license
Convergent evolution is quite extraordinary!
Could it also explain how Dogmen came to be?
It could possibly explain how the Dogman came to have canine-looking traits without being a canine.
As you know, I’m not a staunch proponent for the “Dogmen are a naturally evolved, purely physical creature”-theory. If I’m a proponent for anything it’s the “Dogmen might have more to do with legendary werewolves than people would be comfortable to know and they might possess abilities or senses that go beyond what we’re able to scientifically understand today”-theory.
Still, the reason I do that is to add some balance as most people tend to go with the former theory and propagate that quite extensively.
This post however deals solely with Dogman as a physical, natural creature because I like to keep my mind open.
There exists within cryptozoology this compulsion to sort cryptids into classes, orders, families etc. in an effort to make sense of them and to make the field of cryptozoology seem less pseudo and more scientific. Some have even tried giving them a latin name, as if they are already a proven species!
Commendable in a way, kind of premature in another, because really, we don’t have anywhere near enough scientific data to do that yet!
Jumping the gun makes us seem more pseudo, not less.
And it makes us overlook important clues.
I see sooo many people who first hear of the term Nephilim, for instance, and immediately applies that term to everything unexplained.
Bigfoot- typical Nephilim.
Dogman, could it beee any more Nephilim?
Goatman, Mothman, freaking Godzilla- all Nephilim!
Case closed.
Wow… If it was that easy…
Nothing about this is easy. Take my word for it if you will.
I’m pretty brainy and I’ve been trying to understand cryptozoological creatures for pretty much all my life!
When I was but a very little hedgehog of around 10-12Â I began to read about The Owlman of Cornwall, Mothman, El Chupacabra (the real one not the American one…) and naturally everything about werewolves that I could find, and I never really stopped, and today, at 46 years old, all I know is that I know very little!
If I have any advice for everyone it’s that having the answers, knowing the unknowable, does NOT make you cool and interesting. But considering these things, and being open, teachable and humble does.
Now back to hyenas.
Even more on hyenas
We know at least one species of Pliocene/Pleistocene hyena managed to find its way over to the Americas- the Chasmaporthetes.
We also know that several species of hyena were all over Europe and Asia during this time.
Knowing this puts us in a good position to form a hypothesis on the origins of Dogman as some offshoot evolution of a hyena.
“But hyenas are so small”, you protest.
Yes, today’s hyenas are kind of small, at least compared to a Dogman, but the largest extant hyena, the spotted one, is still larger than a grey wolf. The grey wolf’s weight averages 40 kg (88 lb) while the hyena weighs 40.5- 55 kg (89- 121 lb) for males and 44.5- 63.9 kg (98- 141 lb) for females.
And that’s for the largest extant hyena. Some extinct ones were even bigger.
Another thing; Dogmen are rarely seen hunting or actually killing a prey. Strange, I know. They are seen with prey but that’s no guarantee they caught it themselves.
They are quite often seen at the side of roads eating roadkill.
Does this mean that despite its formidable arsenal of weapons (teeth, claws) its rippling muscles, its speed and its size it prefers scavenging over hunting?
Not to say it never hunts, it probably does, but if it does then there are no witnesses around to observe it.
Hyenas are famous scavengers. The can hunt too but seem to be clever enough not to waste the energy if food can be obtained though other means, such as scavenging.
Well there you have it. The hyena fits MUCH better than a wolf as a relative of a Dogman, but there are still big, red question marks flying around being obnoxious.
I’m not married to this hyena hypothesis, only to the part that says Dogman is neither man nor dog since it has features that negate both possibilities.
But what do we call it? Ralph? Humphrey? Engelbert?
I guess for now, we’ll just keep on calling it Dogman, so we’ll all know what we’re talking about.
For now I’ll sign off with a recommendation to watch The Bray Road Beast on Amazon Prime or elsewhere. It is REALLY well made and I loved it!
Also watch this video if you haven’t. I can’t vouch for the truthfulness and integrity of the people who have made it as I don’t know them personally, but it’s pretty cool. Also, if the sound at 13.49 and onward a bit is legit, then it’s BLOODY CREEPY!
Sources:
Case Studies of Convergent Evolution: of Wolves and Thylacines
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/convergent_evolution.htm
https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/blog/why-dont-dogs-climb-trees/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf#Anatomy_and_dimensions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_hyena#Dimensions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canidae
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/north-america-once-had-hyena-its-very-own-180960673/
The Cloaked Hedgehog 
Hi, nice to ‘hear’ from you again.
Thought about this myself, but rejected Hyena’s as a possibility because they have no hands and do not climb trees, Raccoons do, could be an ancient relative. Did not consider the amount of nipples, though.
Side note: it’s the spotted Hyena with the dominant female and her pseudo penis.
The idea that the Big Grey one is not Dad, but Mom is something.
Bye, C.S.
Thank you Hedgehog. Very interesting. How are you? I’ve seen what i call a “cow-eyed” dogman over 15 years ago. It was as big as a moose. Miss your youtube blogs. I think you should write a book,you are very smart and creative. Take care my friend.
What an interesting theory! it fits rather well doesn’t it. Glad to see you back and thanks for sharing this
Nice post. I’ve thought about the hyena link before. You see some descriptions that fit well with it. As another potential path, I’ve always wondered if there was a link with the maned wolf (oddly technically not a wolf) too, as the sound that is described seems similar to me.
Dear Anna,
Sadly, my head’s been spinning with Dogman (hyenaman?) and, I’ve been looking for a source of ‘knowns’ about him. Will Jevning has mentioned a few times that Dogman is a type of Bigfoot, per the mysterious ‘Mr. Black’- a Government insider who knows much about the creatures, their skills, talents & abilities. I like the hyena hypothesis, or, concept- because it doesn’t fit straight Phylum, Class, Species organ nicely- OK, at all!
Other than Linda Godfrey, there’s a woman in MI who has had a few interactions with the creatures- and, she seems to fall into the Woo Woo side- found her 5 hours away at another suburban home, dreams, and, noting corn stalks, etc… on her property. If interested, I’ll find the YT show I listened too and send you the link. She was well spoken, a little reserved, and, articulate about the history of the dog tribe.
I was noting the lack of interactions with a sense of communion- most generate fear, terror, fight or flight instincts- almost none with intelligence or shared consciousness. Which makes me lean a little towards the Nephelim side, or, 1st or 2nd dimensional being at least. To my limited eye, the Type 3 could be a bigfoot relative, while, the Canidae headed Type seems to very Hyena-ish, and, unrelated in most ways other than its BIG size.
Always nice to read your reflections & thoughts, was checking out the map (again), and, finally- hoping to have a dialogue. Well, more of a Q & A… Happy New Year, and, always good to read your posts!
Dave
I like to call them Wolfheads not Dogman!
hi interesting ideas there about the origins of dogman, i think of it along the lines of Duck bill Platypus, a peice from this, that and the other ,for the time being in any case.
i would like to contribute to the discussion by recalling the experience people have when the dogman sees them; the DM has them in its sights,
this reminds me of the idea of “within my field of vision” or “within range of hearing.”
The idea being that the experience stems from being integrated within the DM or BF field of perception.
i want to suggest that the DM has a perceptably greater control over their perception fields than we humans have , humans being barely aware of such fields.
reference for development of this line of thinking; Morphic Resenance, by R Sheldrake.
Interesting, African Dogmen seem to look like Hyena’s:
I really loved the way you described your theory or notion, and I found it really interesting and informative, especially when we think about the commonly described hunched back of the dogman, we can relate to hyenas or the jaw which is totally filled with teeths is also similar to hyenas, the nr. of nipples is one of the best point you made…yet I tend to disagree with you and here is why…
First of all I kind of understand the Convergent evolution, and is a very interesting topic, yet I find it borderline impossible for another species of animals trough convergent evolution to get as close to dogs or wolves to actually confuse them…I mean the interesting part about dogman is that we can relate it’s appearance not only to dogs, but to certain species which makes it even more incredible…I mean is often described as German Shepard’s head, Grey or Timber Wolf, Doberman or a head that resembles a Coyote…
Is worth to note that for an animal not having a trait that all other of the genus has doesn’t automatically excludes from that certain group…
Let’s take a look to Platypus which lays eggs, it has beak and, hair or fur, yet it is a mammal (I know that’s a class, not a genus)…
Taking this example anything is possible (of course I do not think dogman has anything to do with apes), and I have a feeling that this creature has been genetically created by ancient, highly developed civilizations, be human or something else…That would explain why people have witnessed dogman in Europe in the middle ages and why American Indians were talking about it since hundreds if not thousands of years.
P.S. Do you plan to continue your dogman stories from your dogman encounter sightings map on youtube? That would be gold. I am going trough all of them once again :).
Great writing and thanks for sharing your indepth thinking.
I’m all for the idea that Dogmen have been genetically engineered into existence so to speak, I just wonder by whom and when?
Were they created by the Anunnaki a long time ago, are they one of Tiamat’s monsters or were they created more recently by the ever popular reptilians? And most importantly; for what purpose??
Thank you for your comment!
The origins of Dogman are mostly interesting to ponder, sometimes frustrating as you realize you will never know. Not really.
About the Dogman encounter videos, unfortunately it’s unlikely I’ll make more. The reasons are that a certain site complained about me reading an encounter someone had sent in to their site. Some copyright issue. Not being well versed in the world of copyrighting I’ve decided to just not risk any more troubles.
Also I feel that the sightings videos unintentionally became part of the whole creepy story entertainment stuff that is so big on youtube these days, and though I have nothing against those, I didn’t want people to listen to those stories and think they were mere entertainment.
Hello, Hedgehog.
It was very interesting to read your post; you have obviously done a lot of work in order to educate yourself. Below, I bring up some information from the YouTube channnel, “Dogman Encounters”.
Actually, there are at least two accounts of females existing. One was supposedly with two pups. The other female discussed, “Adora”, was sharing property with three human males; the men believed that she was leaving her scent for them; they perceived the dogman pack, or family, as being matriarchal.
There are also several accounts of one, two, or several deer frantically racing across roads, which resulted in drivers stopping; following soon after was a dogman, who was clearly in pursuit of them. This has been recounted in maybe 10-12 of the episodes which I have listened to.
Regarding the idea of dogmen with smaller ears and muzzles being juveniles of the same type with longer muzzles, and larger ears, I have been under the impression that those who have the shorter muzzles, and ears, have ears placed on the sides of the head, rather than on top of the head, as is the case with others.
Interesting post, it could very well explain what they are. Iâd say this is the best one Iâve read so far. It doesnât explain why they allegedly have been reported to possses human and canine dna but nothing is off the table. I remain respectful to all beliefs regarding these beings. I just personally donât subscribe to the werewolf theory just because itâs better not to skip from A to Z all in one swoop. Quantum leaps (as far as the human mind goes)arenât suppose to be comfortable and starting from a place youâre familiar with helps you register the unknown efficiently. Man has a way of mystacizing everything and the Dogman is no different. I just feel like there is more reason to believe they are some sort of physical creature than otherworldly. Especially when you hear about them having babies because the supernatural would be beyond the need for reproduction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnoll
Call them Wolfheads
Well dogman has a shaft not a human penis. So if there is a abundant of hair in the area you wouldn’t notice anything if it was a female. Female dogman DON’T have just 2 nipples. But a female dogman that has not given birth will have there nipples covered with hair and again not visible. Actually unless they have pups you may not see “breasts” as people want to picture them. Dogman run fast but not straight up but leaning forward very forward sometimes. They. Do things much like dog/wolves in many ways. Can some have hyena blood? I dont go into hypothesis on where they came from i only study behavior. But lets say there vocals are as extensive as a hyena hell they even do the hyena cackle LOL. Many females are larger then males. Oh ps. Some dogs have semi retractable front claws just like DM. And if dogs had the intelligence of a DM they would climb as well if the motive was high.
South West michigans Van Buren county has a recent siting in the South scott lake wooded area . As reported to me a Scott lake senior citizen was driving down eastbound along side of Abernathy lake on 28th avenue when a as she described as a huge dark furry creature on all fours was crossing the road in front of her got to the middle stood up and bolted into the woods disappearing into the thick brush along the South shore line of Abernathy lake.it was daylight and clear skies and she is a very credible witness as she is a retired county worker and has had involvement in her career dealing with both domestic and wild life for over 40 years .she was close enough to the creature that she knows it was not a bruin species or canine although it did have a long tail and a longated muzzled jaw and red forward eyes as reported she saw it at a close range of no more than 60 feet in front of her vehicle. She said it’s on all fours was shoulder height level with the surface of the Chevy tahoe’s hood .and probably would have weighed in at 350 plus pounds or more . She did note that it looked like something that belonged in the South African jungle or a city zoo. She told me what she thought it was and I agree with her but before we reveal that I am planning to form an expetdition and hunting party for one months time to explore that area of the siting for I have already have private property access to the surrounding country side there . I am currently in Texas right now and I am making my team contacts list and procuring the proper equipment need for the taking or live capture of this creature. I feel I already know where to find the creature and there is no hurry and wait until I have fully assembled the proper team members and equipment to go in and see just what we are really dealing with before any further public notification will be released .in other words if it turns out to be a guy playing a joke in a monkey costume it would save us a lot of embarassment in the long run if it is and hopefully I can expose a hoax also. But I want to remain optimistic and believe the witness saw something very important to the cryptozoology field. Of course there is more info on the incident but it is not ready to release at this time. It is a very delicate matter and everyone will have to be patient.
Hey, how are you? I hope everything is fine. Not much movements here or on youtube.
So I think I might have found another explanation for what could cause the overly filled jaw with teeth in case of Dogman. Maybe it re-grows it’s teeth. Many animals do that, mostly reptiles but also some mammals, like Elephamts, kangoroos, manatees. But here is the example of a T-rex jaw portion just for an idea: https://postimg.cc/PNJZ2LYD