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Michigan has some strange tales, but few are stranger than that of the Dogman. Some say the story began with a 1987 radio prank by Northern Michigan radio personality Steve Cook. Following the broa…

The Legend of the Michigan Dogman – Absolute Michigan Home About Absolute Michigan Michigan in Pictures Dig Michigan Blog Blog Home Arts & Entertainment Business Community Food & Dining Homes & Real Estate Lodging & Travel Media Recreation & Sports Shopping Michigan Cannabis Trail TwitterFacebookFlickr Home About Absolute Michigan Michigan in Pictures Dig Michigan Blog Blog Home Arts & Entertainment Business Community Food & Dining Homes & Real Estate Lodging & Travel Media Recreation & Sports Shopping Michigan Cannabis Trail Search Dig Michigan! Articles, Dig Michigan, History & Libraries, Media, Michigan, Movies, Photography & Film, Radio & Podcast, Television & Internet Video, The Michigan Pages The Legend of the Michigan Dogman Michigan has some strange tales, but few are stranger than that of the Dogman. Some say the story began with a 1987 radio prank by Northern Michigan radio personality Steve Cook. Following the broadcast, Cook was surprised when listeners began sharing their stories of the beast. Surprise turned to shock, however, when a cabin near Luther was attacked by some kind of canine. One of the many encounters listed on Steve Cook’s great website took place in the summer of 1938. 17-year-old Robert Fortney was fishing on the banks of the Muskegon River near Paris, Michigan when a pack of what appeared to be large feral dogs emerged from the woods: Fortney remained silent, but the sensitive noses of the dogs quickly picked up his scent. Since he had been small game hunting earlier in the day, Fortney had his loaded rifle nearby. As the dogs approached, they assumed the group posture of a pack on a hunt. Fortney picked up the gun and fired a shot into the air. The dogs cringed and turned to slink back into the forest, all except one: a huge black dog with unusual eyes. “They were blue,” said Fortney. “What kind of dog has blue eyes?” The big dog and Fortney considered each other for a long moment, less than ten feet separating them. Fortney fired another shot over the head of the strange dog. Then to Fortney’s shock and amazement, the black dog stood up on two legs and cast a glare that sent shivers down his spine. “It reared up on its hind legs and stared at me,” said Fortney in a phone interview in 1987. “It may be that I was just scared, but I swear that dog was smiling at me.” Click for many more encounters and on’t miss another pair of tales from Weird Michigan’s Linda Godfrey of the Dogman at Fayette and the Dogman in Washtenaw County & near Bay City. Profits from Cook’s sales of Dogman merchandise support AC Paw, a no-kill animal rescue program that specializes in animals that have been injured, abused, or neglected. Click their logo for details. The Dogman legend has grown over the years, and Michigan filmmaker Rich Brauer is hard at work on the filming of “Dogman 2: The Wrath of the Litter”. In a nice feature in the Detroit Free Press, Brauer opines: “Every culture has a mythical woodland creature that they blame stuff on. I don’t know what it is about people that they want to blame stuff on something like that. There’s an inherent imagination that people have, especially when they go in the woods and start to hear things and their hair stands up on the back of their head. … It might turn out to be a chickadee on a stick, but up until that moment, it was something huge.” The photo to the right is a scene from the filming – click to read more at the Brauer indie films blog and check out our interview with Brauer right here. Here’s Cook’s song … Happy Halloween! Looking for more? “Ghost” on Absolute Michigan brings up a graveyard full of spooky stories including the rowdy ghosts of the Fenton Hotel and the Ghost of Minnie Quay. For more on the Dogman and many more scary stories, turn to Linda Godfrey’s Weird Michigan, a compendium of strange tales from all across Michigan. Share this:FacebookTwitterRedditEmailMorePinterestLinkedInTumblrPrintOctober 30, 2013/by farlane https://i0.wp.com/absolutemichigan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Legend-of-the-Michigan-Dogman.jpg?fit=270%2C463 463 270 farlane http://absolutemichigan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Absolute-Michigan.png farlane2013-10-30 06:38:592013-10-30 06:39:43The Legend of the Michigan Dogman Recent Posts Happy Birthday to the Grand Hotel! #TBT May 25, 1993: Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw in Alpena May 23rd is Gwen Frostic Day #TBT May 13, 1980: The Kalamazoo Tornado Annual Grand Marais Michigan Splash-in – June 15-17, 2018 Absolute Michigan Facebook Subscribe Enter your email address to receive new posts by email. Email Address Subscribe © Absolute Michigan TwitterFacebookFlickrDig Michigan! Blog Michigan in Pictures About Absolute Michigan Absolute Michigan :: All Michigan, All the Time Harvesting Michigan Beechnuts The Polar Express Comes to Michigan Scroll to top