, First off, you may not care what i have to say because I'm 15 and the possibility of a dogman is fairly hard to believe, so if you don't care what i have to say... well darn. -edit-
My name is Hanna, i have lived in Benzie County, Michigan my entire life, year round, and i'm truly amazed and appalled that so many Michiganders have never heard of the legend of the dogman, Let alone never even heard it first hand.
anywho, whenever my family gets together my dad & uncle play a recording of the legend of the dogman late at night to freak me out, and every time i hear it i get really scared (especially when i was 5.) So today my uncle stopped over for a visit and we ended up talking about the legend cause they kinda stopped playing it for a few years. i had nearly forgotten about the song and legend behind it but out of the blue the topic came up when he told me about someone from Wisconsin who had a Bigfoot-like animal steel roadkill from the back of his truck (his job was to clean the roadkill off roads, ewww). so after my uncle left i decided to google dogman and see what i could find (because i have OCD and i tend to obsess over things.) But now after over 5 hours sitting at my computer researching it , i think i have read pretty much everything the Internet has to offer about this/these *?* dogman/men.
An intersting thing that i have found on it was an interview with a Native American. A Native Americans Perspective on the Michigan Dogman. <-Theres the link. He goes on about shape shifting and how Traditional Native Americans study their totem very intensely, down to their animal's tendencies and mannerisms. He was talking specifically about the Cheyenne tribe. These warriors (often called dog soldiers or dog men) were very advanced persistent hunters. *getting to the point* the US army supposedly "broke for all time the power of the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers on the central Plains" in the Battle of Summit Springs in Colorado, but stories about them were passed down in the form of folk lour from elders over time and into this neck of the woods (MI) as more natives moved back into Michigan. I believe that these stories may have been twisted and mutilated from being passed down by hearsay to fit what people want to hear and what will make the hairs on the back of their necks stand up and eventually the natives striving to be like their totem which is sometimes referred to as shape shifting became literal shape shifting in stories therefor the legend was created.
Or if you believe that the dogmen/man are out there looming in the rural areas and dark forests of Michigan, Wisconsin and/or Ohio you may want to hear that Steve Cook, the author of the song the legend of the dogman has been an avid folk lour collector since his youth. Possibly he had heard about them in his past and decided to write a fictional story around the idea of the animal-thing.
To me there was one sighting that stuck out. it was the first one i happened to read: Dogman Sighting this sighting was in Michigan near Reed City if i can recall, by a medical student that is majoring in radiology who seemed to be credible for his story. In his letter to a reporter (linda godfrey) he gives the most detailed description of the shape of a dogman's body that i have read and gives very precise information about the times and what exactly he and his friends were doing. He also mentions of hearing rumor about there being more than one of these creatures in his area more like 4 or 5(?). to conclude it he wrote "I don't think this was paranormal, it was biological. Not ghostly." which i agree with completely. After reading this i believe that there is an unknown animal people call the dogman or he is an exceptional writer with to much time on his hands.
A lot of the information out there tends to contradict itself and other information which leaves this a pretty open-ended debate or discussion. Personally i really want to believe that they are out there, but i'm the kind of person who likes to have evidence and clarity before making up my mind, what i really want is to see or take a picture of it, or video, or something to prove that they are out there. people claim to have seen footprints, why don't they take a mold or a picture of the footprint. if you have taken or found a picture online of a dogman or of damage one has done please post it, or a sketch of one that someone who has seen a dogman has drew. or a sketch of what you think one looks like.
So yeah... i know this is kind of an odd-off the wall post but what the hell, if u actually read this far i bet it got u thinking
. i just want to pick your brain to see what you think about the possibility of the existance of a dogman. Also if you think that there could be more than one of them. You may even come to the conclusion that they are a cross breed, an unknown animal, a biological mishap or whatever. im not writing this for you to criticize my thoughts, knowledge, research, or lack of writing ability *because i am only a sophomore in high school*, i just want you to stretch yourself, be open minded and tell me what you think. but if u feel the need to criticize me knock your socks off. =]email= -edit-
thanks
Amen! 
