American Werewolf Follow-up: Michigan Dogman
July 14, 2009 by natalina
Filed under Cryptozoology, The Unexplained
Well, I got quite a reaction to the post American Werewolf: The Beast of Bray Road.  In light of some of the comments I’ve received here on the blog, via Myspace messages, via Twitter messages, and email, (I even had one fella email me and claim that he IS a werewolf!) I’ve decided to quickly revisit the topic and explore a few more points, as well as a bit of evidence that I missed previously.
An eyewitness snapped this photo, which they claim shows a beast resembling a Dogmansimilar to the Beast of Bray Road.
First of all, what is it about idea of the werewolf that creates such a strong reaction in people? Is it the animalistic nature of the beast combined with its connection to the human world? Do we see a reflection of our primal nature in the legendary tales of the half man, half wolf creature? I’d love for you to share your thoughts on what it is that seems to universally draw human beings to this beast.
Now, specifically regarding the supposed reports of real wolf-like creatures roaming the United States, I was disappointed in myself that I didn’t include a bit about the Michigan Dogman in the last post. Michigan is a bordering state with Wisconsin, and has had its own wave of reports of a creature similar to The Beast of Bray Road. In fact, there is even a controversial bit of video footage that purports to show the Dogman in action.
Linda Godfrey’s sketch of the Michigan Dogman
Recently on the website Phantoms and Monsters, a video featuring this sighting, as well as commentary was posted. I’m going to include the video as it was presented, and then we’ll analyze it together. It is important to note that the footage is still in the research stage, and that no conclusions of its authenticity have yet been reached.
This bit of footage, known as The Gable Film, can be seen in its entirety here:Â The Gable Film
Now, there are a few things I’d like to comment on in this video. The first point is that I was of the understanding that the Dogman, like the Beast of Bray Road, is supposedly an upright walking hominid. This video clearly shows a much more traditional animal in an all fours stance. It does look strange, with such a stocky body. My first reaction was, “Oh that’s a guy in a suit!” But, the movement of the creature seems to be a little odd, and would be difficult for a human to replicate. Then again, the video is very shaky and hard to see clearly (aren’t they always?) and makes an analysis by an untrained individual rather difficult. My biggest problem with the video is the way it ends. I have a very hard time buying the close up of the teeth and maw at the end. It seems a little too over the top. And what happened to the videographer? That remains a mystery. Hmmmm.
My other problem with the whole purported legend of the Michigan Dogman is how the experts in its research are trying to link the creature to the Native American legend of Wendigo. This is particularly bothersome to me, as one having a keen interest in Native American lore. Wendigo in Algonquian tradition is nothing like a werewolf or dogman.
Wendigo is a supernatural creature into which any human being can transform, according to Algonquian lore. Ojibwa and Cree tribes of the Algonquin nation are particularly tied to this legend, as they believed that human beings were susceptible to being possessed by the Wendigo, especially if they had engaged in cannibalism. Wendigo is a cannibalistic entity that is very malevolent, and has an appearance more like that of a tortured human being, not a wolf. Basil Johnston is an Ojibwa scholar, and describes the Wendigo as follows:
The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody [....] Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption.
Image of the Wendigo from and episode of the TV show Supernatural
I only include this information to point out how easy it is to get wires crossed when trying to rationalize a real world event with a historical legend. Pet peeve of mine I guess. Even the above video makes reference to Wendigo, and I really don’t know why they’ve connected this Native American lore to the Dogman sightings. They don’t coincide at all, in my view.
The point of this post is not to dissuade people who believe in the Dogman or Beast of Bray Road. I think that there is other compelling evidence that something is out there in the woods. But when it comes to the Gable video, they jury is still out, and my gut tells me that something is amiss with that footage. Generally I keep my opinions out of it, but this one I just had to comment on.
So, let’s hear it. What do you think about this additional information. Keeping in mind the polygraph verified eye witness accounts of the Beast of Bray Road, are you convinced that something mysterious is happening, or is it a case of mass hysteria? Let’s keep this conversation going. And remember that we’ve got a great group of Extraordinary Intelligence followers on Twitter and a growing group of fun friends on Myspace. Join us! Click on either image to be whisked away to the sites! (I personally think my fantastic music playlist on Myspace is reason alone to visit!)
Hmmmm. Man in a suit alright. I’m not sold at all. Why is the footage always so incomplete, or shaky or blurry, or in some way not able to properly identify the subject matter.
The reveal of the person filming suggests he’s very young. Well, he looks very young to me. I didn’t notice the beast transforming, but it certainly seemed to be like a human on all fours with a bigger rear end and shorter front end.
I love lycanthropy, I’m even working on a feature treatment.
My most popular post which continues to get almost daily comments (almost exclusively from teenagers) is http://www.horrorphile.net/debate-battle-vampires-or-werewolves/
Great post by the way.
So what’s your fave werewolf movie or two?
Bryn, the more I look at it, the more I think it is a man in a suit as well. I guess we could be wrong, but I don’t see the transformation they’re referencing either.
I love werewolves as well. I recently sat down with a friend and watched all of the Ginger Snaps movies. I liked the first one the best, the second was good, the third one sort of bored me.
American Werewolf in London is one of the best. I could watch it over and over. I’m assuming you’ve reviewed that one, I’ll have to look for it.
I like the Underworld movies. Actually, I haven’t seen the most recent one. I looked at that werewolf vs. Vampires post of yours a long time ago. I’ll have to check it out again and see how the debate is going.
Thanks for the comments! Perhaps someday I’ll be reviewing your werewolf movie right here!
I think the video is a scam but there must be something our there to have so many witness reports.
I agree. There is something out there. What it is…I have no clue. Hopefully someday we’ll know for certain what it is!
wow good clip. but it moves like a bear when it charges. not sold at all where the camera man body. good hoax s. ask yourself questions other then reading the texts
for crying outloud people! that is not a man in a suite. look it closely as it turns to run, when it makes the first leap you can see its hind legs and those my friends are not human legs you can tell that they are dog legs, about the last part of the video with the teeth and everything i’m not convinced but the rest of the video looks real like if its a cross with a gorilla and a dog
you guys should also read the reports on a strange creature seen in wisconsin, you’ll see that the discription of the beast is a large, about the size of a dear, long hair, wolf like head, wide shoulders, front legs longer than the hind legs with a dark brownish color. it has been seen run on all 4 legs and also stand up on 2. To me this video if you study all the little details of the beast you see, it seems very real.
Hey Jeff thanks for dropping by with your take on the vid. The jury is still out for me.
You should check out the previous post in this series, http://extraordinaryintelligence.com/933/the-unexplained/american-werewolf-the-beast-of-bray-road/ about the very Wisconsin beast you are referring to.
Thanks again!
so natalina what do you think about all these creature sightings and this gable film, seems to me that all those werewolf legends are not just legends but to me its not that it might be some shapeshifter thing, i beleive its a species of large wolf that has always existed but rarely seen, it may be possible if you think about the gorilla was discovered in 1902 i mean there may be many kinds of strange animals out there that have not been discovered, i think we should take a closer look at all those creature legends
wheres my manners! thank you very much natalina for the links, the discriptions are very interesting aren’t they?
Its great to find somebody that does some research on these sightings
They are real, sort of a type of wolf but its altogether different, same diet acts differently.
They walk on 2 legs and 4′s but they actually walk like we do, legs sort of like ours and a k9′s legs, they are no monsters but can kill but largely would rather not, very fierce when confronted and very intimidating!!!
Legends about this show the same similar details that sightings show nowadays in scary details.
i myself know of 10 different people, who largely have no idea about anyone else whos seen these things, in great detail, full view verity of back grounds, solid people who are very much grounded in the truth and would make bad liars who aren’t in the habit of mistaking something in full view for anything else and who are absolutely rational people and just too boot most of the are very intelligent people who i didn’t approach with the subject!
That is very accurate, imagine the details im leaving out!
im not lying about any of this or in any way connecting things with imagination, im a huge skeptic meaning i look into things and im not easy too convince and im telling you all they are very real!
Oh and i should note from my findings they are likely not shape shifters, just menacing large wolf like humanoids!
This video shows a “creature” with broad shoulders, so that means not bear, not dog, not wolf, its not a monkey or ape of any kind for a number of reasons, like how its not looking around, it moves different and if you watch how it moves it actually jumps all 4 feet off the ground at the same time, people and apes don’t do that like that, however something “else” might, now nothing is stopping someone from covering a dog in a funny suit and then calling it over too them, thats more so what it actually looks like.
The rest can be faked.
Ps: if its real? well thats odd all on its own for a number of reasons but if you see something you never saw before thats how it goes down anyways.
Oh and i have to clear something up thats painfully obvious, the picture of the “werewolf” thats holding something, its a bigfoot not a werewolf, you can tell the difference, see obviously the physical features of the creature are bigfoot, but some people are gonna say there is a snout, its not a snout its a leaf from a branch thats right there, seriously look at all the same looking leaf spots all over the picture!
Its just a good shot of a bigfoot.
Ps: ya they are real too!
thanks for your info Lone Ranger i completely agree with you and i my self am very difficult to convince, these wolf creatures are very real, i really hope we can get a clear photo of one soon, and about that bigfoot photo i think you might be right on that.
There has got to be more evidence out there we just have to keep searching
hey guys i was checking that photo that has the creature holding a dog and it does look more like a snout, if you can see the snout is not the same color of leaves its more like the color of his face, the other thing it looks like that triangle shaped wolf head people are talking about in wisconsin, it apears that leaves are covering its ears.
Hey does anybody know if someone has made any video documental on this michigan dogman legend or the beast of bray road because the other day i was watching an episode of Monster Quest where they were investigating the bray road beast and all they did was just interview like 3 witnesses and just take a little look at the forest where they said: “Hmm nothing here, lets go back home.”
I mean they did not take the investigation seriously. Has anyone actually stayed in those woods long inough to get some real evidence? If somebody knows about any kind of “real” documental i will really appreciate it
that,s a gorilla
since when have you seen a gorilla with dog hind legs and pointy ears and a long bushy tail?
Hey there – be sure to check out the upcoming History Channel / MonsterQuest on the Michigan Dogman (American Werewolf part 2) which is airing either in February or March of 2010. They were in Michigan filming back in October and the show is in post-production. My sources tell me that the Gable Film will be intensely discussed in this episode.
Hey Frank! Thanks for the heads up! I’ll make sure to tune in for that. I expect it will be very interesting indeed. I’ve also perused your site and will have to check out your novels on the Dogman. Thank you for stopping by!
I think I read that the Gable Film was a hoax. That being said, the movement of the “creature” did seem a bit interesting. At first it seemed to move gorilla-like, then bear…then big cat (panther).
The most unbeliveable part was the teeth near the end.
As for the short vid posted above, the third still pic taken from a “trail camera” looks more like a college mascot suit. I agree with the previous posters that the one pic could be a bigfoot.
hey i thought everybody was gone, thanks for the news Frank! I hope this time Monsterquest does it more interesting becuase last time when they had that werewolf episode it was so disapointing, it was like they didn’t even try.
Hey and the Gable film is not a hoax, i’ve read that there is no proof of it being a hoax and it was seen by this scientist and also by this professional indian hunter and they both said that the creature was a real animal, they do not know what animal it is, but it is definately not a person in a suit.
ok….i watched the Gable film at least 50 times…there is a pause in the film before the monster shows up you look at the forest and it blinks then its there…how is that not obvious…i have to agree that it looks like a dog in a suit… but if you watch closely it runs much like a dog
oh and i lived in michigan for 23 yrs and yesterday was the first i ever heard of the dog man
and i do believe it is real and i look forward to finding it for myself
Look people we all need to band together and hunt these creatures down once and for all. As far as i’m concerned as human beings we’ve wiped out an alarmingly large number of creatures during our short time on this earth. Let’s see what we can do about this “dogman” of Michigan.
okay…..its real. even if it is a guy in dog outfit it dosent matter there are thousands of people who have reported sightings. and i have even seen it my self once, so its something you have to see to believe. and from what i saw I 100% believe it.
hey rissa can you tell us how was your experience with the creature?
Creature in the Gable film looks real. If you look closely you can see it MORPH. What is it? Who knows. It’s not a human-being in a suit. The moves the beast makes are beyond human capacity. It may well be proven a hoax and if so the film is a masterpiece, especially for it time frame, made in the early 70′s. A serious scholarly investigation should be made before it is discounted out of hand as FAKE. Mankind knows little about the planet we occupy so whos to say what unknown and hidden animal life is out there. The renowned cryptologist, Bernard Heuvelmans, the scientist,father of cryptozoology in his book “On The Track Of Unknown Animals” cites many beasts from around the world that are not listed in the record of zoology and are not accepted animal life yet the local people are convinced they are real breathing creatures. Be scepital, be critical, but keep a open inquisitive mind. This is how paradigm shifts and discoveries are made. Be careful when go out in those north woods, who knows what lurks. Remember this fact, thousands of people disappear every in the United States, seemingly off the face of the earth. Hum hum??????
hope it can be filmed again soon with better resolution this time
Saw Monsterquest tonight. The creature was nothing more then the guy himself in a moss covered homemade suit who gave the video to a radio guy. He used an old 8mm camera to do the whole thing like it was an old film. He himself couldn’t believe how real he looked in the get up but never tried to recieve money or anything from the film.
I want to thank EVERYONE for the lively discussion taking place on this post! Its so awesome to see what you all have to say. Especially you Jeff! Thanks for all of your contributions and insights! As far as the Monsterquest episode Billa, I still haven’t seen it but I’m going to try to get ahold of it and watch it. Sounds very fascinating. I’ll update once I’ve had a look. Thanks again and keep it going friends! ~ Natalina/ Site Admin.
Well. Ima tell ya what. I was born an raised in northern Michigan, and am a life time hunter and fisher. I dont care what anyone’s opinion is……There is something in the woods of northern Michigan. I know it to be a fact
To be honest the dogman is really scary. I never encounterd it never will. But i did tune into MonsterQuest and if any of you seen the Gable film (supposed proof of the dogman) it was not real at all reply to me if you want to know it all.
i guys appreciate your words natalie and i myself think there is somethinf fishy going on here with this turning out to be a hoax, i mean we’ve all seen it and you can tell it is not a person in a suite, you can try to run like that but we all saw that the thing in the video had smaller hind legs and like i said before when it leeps the legs look like a dog, you can’t just shrink your legs into a suite like. Well i haven’t really seen the Monster Quest episode myself but i will, but they say that the guy that claims made it looks like the one that appears in the film, well its not hard to find somebody that looks like him and just apear on tv saying:”hey i made it, I’m creative!” i dont know guys this seems like a coverup or something, that creature just looks to real the way it moves, well except for the teeth in the last part but i don’t know but i am sure that there is something out there, there is just to many encounters!
Guys! Guys! i just did some relooking at the still images of the film where the victim is chopping wood and comparing it with the “cut scenes” of the supposed victim waiving at the camera and they are not the same person! if you see carefuly the guy waiving at the camera is alot skinnier than the person chopping wood in the gable film and another thing the person in the gable film looks more like a woman to me, just look at the hips, the guy doesn’t even go close!
i know i might sound a bit peranoic but take a look and tell me what you think
Hey guys! Thats strange i left a comment before but anyway. Apreciate the comment Natalie,i did hear the news on that monster quest episode and also read on michigan-dogman.com what this “hoaxer” says and about how he told monster quest it was all a fake way before they even started the filming the episode and make it look like they descoverd it. Yeah i thought :”boy they sure fooled me”, but there is some things that still just don´t seem right here, first what about all the evidence we saw pointing out that it was not a man in a suite like the way it runs and leaps! or the smaller canine looking hind legs you can´t just shrink your legs into a suit to look smaller than your arms, and second this guy “mike” that say is the one in the film choping wood and stuff and even shows some cut out scenes of the guy waiving to the camera and also at the end asking the camera to his son to chase the beast but have you all noticed that this “mike” is alot skinnier than the victim that apears in the film? i really dont think he is the same person just compare the stills of their cut out scenes with some of the original film and you will see it is not the same person besides in the original film it looks more like a woman to me, i dont know, this just might be some cover up or something of what realy happened or just monster quest trying to make a good ending i dont know but this isn´t over yet.
take a look and tell me what you think.
sorry for repeating myself there but my first comments didn’t want to go through.
oops it was natalina not natalie sorry about that
No worries Jeff. I love your insights here! Btw, I finally got around to watching the episode of MonsterHunters where the Dogman is discussed. I’m going to do a new post on it in the very near future. I will post a link here in the comments so that you can see the new information. I would love you to be involved in any new discussions that might spring up from the new post. You’re awesome bro!
Thats great Natalina! Its just that there is things out there and people need to know the truth. I’ll be waiting for that link! Thanks for listening, like i said its cool that i can find people that do some investigations and not just keep what others say.
Speek to ya soon!!!
The Picture Looks More To Be A Gorrila like animal and unless this image is from africa I’d say it was Sasquatch
as for the video some guy came forward and says he faked it and I think that’s true because if the dogman is a real creature then it would be walking on two legs not on all four
read all the comments above Luke. Pay attention to the details and just don’t believe what others say investigate and find the answers.
oh goode i coudn’t find this site thats wierd but anyway still whating the link of natalina
Hey Jeff! Guess what! I just launched a brand new forum which you can find here: http://www.extraordinaryintelligence.com/EIForum/ and I even started a topic about this subject, just for you darlin! I want you to sign up and join the discussion!
Thanks Natalina but everytime i try that link it just says: PAGE NOT FOUND. Can you check it for me I’m really eager to comment on this topic!
Sorry I appeared until now, i was a bit busy.