The Michigan Dogman

I've been interested in Cryptozoology, the paranormal, and supernatural all my life, but I'd never had such a clear encounter with anything until sometime in mid-October, 2016 in West Michigan.In my home, we have a large picture window that allows us to see the neighbors' backyard, garden, and the road in front of the house. My dog spends most of his day looking out this window, barking at the people and their dogs as they pass by. Usually, this usually happens toward the beginning of the day, rarely in the evening. So, when he starts growling at the window at 9:00 at night, I glance out to see what he could be looking at, concerned that someone is up to no good and lurking around.

That wasn't the case, however.

Hunched over, fur covered, and medium/dark brown, something walks from behind the neighbor's house, past the shed, and then disappears behind the other neighbor's house.

"What the heck is that?" I yell, while my dog continues to stare intently at the neighbors now empty yard. My sister also jumps up to look, now; but the creature is gone.

Now, before you think, "that's just her hairy neighbor," let me say that this thing was definitely not a person. It was almost as tall as the neighbor's shed that he has near his garden and it walked in a way that human beings do not walk; very hunched over, like a four-legged animal trying to walk on its hind legs. It also visibly had pointed ears, similar to a wolf's and a clearly defined snout, like a wolf or a dog would have. Instantly, after seeing this creature pass through the yard, I went online and searched if there was anything it could be, even though I knew no creature known to exist looks this way. (Initially, I thought, what creature is brown, furry, and walks on its hind legs? A kangaroo? It was at this point that I learned of the existence of phantom kangaroos, but that is a whole other story). At the time, I had never heard of the Michigan Dogman; however, werewolf did cross my mind.

After a while of searching and finding nothing of use, I finally gave in and typed into the search bar, "Michigan Cryptids."

One of the first results was the Michigan Dogman. This was what I saw. As soon as I read the description, I knew it had to be it. After some thought, I shared my experience with some of my friends online. To my surprise, I wasn't the only one in the area to have seen this creature. A friend of mine reported that just years earlier, a little ways outside of the city I was in, his mother had seen it as well.

Afterward

It's fun to think that someday you could see something that supposedly doesn't exist, the thrill of finding out that the unknown creature you've heard of is actually very real, however actually seeing it is different. First off, it definitely has made me more cautious about going outside alone at night. If this is real, what else might be? I find myself wondering, imagining what this means for the existence of much scarier, much more dangerous beings. And if nothing else, just knowing that the dogman is out there is enough. Secondly, I'm left wondering if I can trust my own experience. Of course, there's always going to be that part of me that says it wasn't real, or that I was seeing things. There has to be a logical explanation. But sometimes there just isn't, and the only real explanation is that maybe there are things out there that we just don't understand.