| "THE DOG MAN" |
Author: Tristan age 11
This story was written by my nephew, Tristan, for a school paper. He did such a great job, I
told him I would post it on my website, so here it is for your reading pleasure.
The dogman is a very mysterious creature. The legend of the dogman was first in April
fool's prank about a creature that was half man- half dog. Lots of people have heard of There
are even CDs that tell the legend of the dogman.
The legend of the dogman was created by WTCM radio production director, Steven Cook, in
1987. It all started when WTCM radio personality Jack O'Malley started to seek an April fool
prank to play to his radio listeners. O'Malley sat down and brainstormed with Cook. Cook finally
came up with an idea.
In his youth, Cook was fascinated by such stories as Bigfoot, the Boggy Creek monster, the
Jersey Devil, and other types of "cryptos." Cook came up with the idea of a creature that was
half man-half dog; the dogman. Cook wrote several verses about its appearance.
A few days before April 1, 1937, Cook played his creation for Jack O'Malley. He thought it
was good but it sounded more like a Halloween song rather than an April fool prank. He agreed
to play it two or more times on April fools day. "The Legend" played for the first time at 7:40 that
morning.
After it played the second time that morning, the phone started to ring. One of the calls
came from a man who said he had seen a creature similar to it years before.
Before the legend was recorded on radio there were several sightings of a dogman type of
creature. Most were in Michigan and Wisconsin.
The earliest sighting in Michigan was in Paris, Michigan, in 1938. Robert Fortney was 17.
He was fishing from the Muskegon River when he saw a pack of large wild dogs emerge from the
woods. When he fired his gun up into the air, the dogs turned back into the woods except one.
The dog had blue eyes. Fortney thought it was strange for a dog. He fired a second shot over
the head of the dog; the dog stood up on two legs and stared at him. He said he could have
sworn the dog was smiling at him. The dog returned to all four feet and followed the pack into
the woods.
Other sightings included one in 1967; two fishermen reported seeing an animal with the
features like a man but had a dog's snout swimming towards their boat.
In July 1967, Veronica Freels and her daughter became lost while traveling home. On a
two-track in northwest Wexford County, she saw it walking down the track on two legs. It was tall
and hunched over. It was covered in thick, black hair.
There have not been many reported sightings of the dogman in the upper peninsula of
Michigan. Two sightings were reported by Kaleb S. of National Mine, Michigan. He reports in
1980, his mother was carrying dishes from the living room to the kitchen when she described a
"horrible dog demon" looking in the window at her. In order for a man to see into that window,
he would have to have been about 7 feet tall.
Kaleb didn't take his mom's story seriously until the summer of 1994, when he saw the
creature himself. Kaleb got tired of waiting for his parents so he walked home himself. He took
a short cut through the old school trail. As he got to the end of his driveway, an ouline of a
figure emerged from the woods. It jumped down from the embankment near his house and ran
across his driveway. He described it as tall, fast, and with a dog-like snout. It ran with its arms
slightly bent in front of itself.
The most controversial evidence is the Gable film. It was shot in the 1970s. It shows a
scene which many believe shows the dogman. Some believe this film to be a joke. After a
careful study by film experts, it was decided not to be an illusion or trick. This seems to be the
best proof that the dogman exists.
In conclusion, the dogman has been claimed to be sighted many times. Steve Cook was not
the first person to think up the dogman, but he was the first to create a radio version. Is it true?
Does it really exist? Or is it just a scary song?
The Legend by Steve Cook
A cool summer mornin' in early June is when the legend began,....At a nameless logging
camp in Wexford County where the Manistee River ran. ....Eleven lumberjacks near the Garland
Swamp found an animal they thought was a dog. ....In a playful mood they chased it around ...'til
it ran inside a hollow log..... A logger named Johnson grabbed him a stick and poked around
inside... Then the thing let out an unearthly scream and came out ...and stood upright. ...None
of those men ever said very much about whatever happened then. ....They just packed up their
belongings and left that night and were never heard from again.
It was ten years later in '97 when a farmer near Buckley was found... Slumped over his plow,
his heart had stopped. There were dog tracks all around. ...Seven years past the turn of the
century they say a crazy old widow had a dream ....of dogs that circled her house at night. They
walked like men and screamed.... In 1917 a sheriff who was out a walkin' ...Found a driverless
wagon and tracks in the dust like wolves had been a stalkin'.... Near the roadside a four-horse
team lay dead with their eyes open wide.... When the vet finished up his examination he said it
looked like they died of fright... In '37 a schooner captain said several crew members had
reported... a pack of wild dogs roaming Bowers Harbor. His story was never recorded....
In '57 a man of the cloth found claw marks on an old church door... The newspaper said they
were made by a dog. He'd a had to stood seven foot four.... In '67 a van load of hippies told a
park ranger named Quinlan... they'd been awakened in the night by a scratch at the winda...
there was a dog-man looking' in and grinnin.' In '77 there were screams in the night near the
village of Bellaire... Could have been a bobcat, could have been the wind. Nobody looked up
there...Then in the summer of '87, near Luther it happened again.... At a cabin in the woods it
looked like maybe someone had tried to break in...There were cuts in the door that could only
have been made by very sharp teeth and claws...He didn't wear shoes cause he didn't have
feet; he walked on just two paws... So far this spring no stories have appeared. Have the
dogmen gone away? Have they disappeared?... Soon enough I guess we'll know cause summer
is almost here.... And in this decade called the 80s, the 7th year is here.... And somewhere in
the northwoods darkness a creature walks upright And the best advice you may ever get... Is
don't go out at night...
told him I would post it on my website, so here it is for your reading pleasure.
The dogman is a very mysterious creature. The legend of the dogman was first in April
fool's prank about a creature that was half man- half dog. Lots of people have heard of There
are even CDs that tell the legend of the dogman.
The legend of the dogman was created by WTCM radio production director, Steven Cook, in
1987. It all started when WTCM radio personality Jack O'Malley started to seek an April fool
prank to play to his radio listeners. O'Malley sat down and brainstormed with Cook. Cook finally
came up with an idea.
In his youth, Cook was fascinated by such stories as Bigfoot, the Boggy Creek monster, the
Jersey Devil, and other types of "cryptos." Cook came up with the idea of a creature that was
half man-half dog; the dogman. Cook wrote several verses about its appearance.
A few days before April 1, 1937, Cook played his creation for Jack O'Malley. He thought it
was good but it sounded more like a Halloween song rather than an April fool prank. He agreed
to play it two or more times on April fools day. "The Legend" played for the first time at 7:40 that
morning.
After it played the second time that morning, the phone started to ring. One of the calls
came from a man who said he had seen a creature similar to it years before.
Before the legend was recorded on radio there were several sightings of a dogman type of
creature. Most were in Michigan and Wisconsin.
The earliest sighting in Michigan was in Paris, Michigan, in 1938. Robert Fortney was 17.
He was fishing from the Muskegon River when he saw a pack of large wild dogs emerge from the
woods. When he fired his gun up into the air, the dogs turned back into the woods except one.
The dog had blue eyes. Fortney thought it was strange for a dog. He fired a second shot over
the head of the dog; the dog stood up on two legs and stared at him. He said he could have
sworn the dog was smiling at him. The dog returned to all four feet and followed the pack into
the woods.
Other sightings included one in 1967; two fishermen reported seeing an animal with the
features like a man but had a dog's snout swimming towards their boat.
In July 1967, Veronica Freels and her daughter became lost while traveling home. On a
two-track in northwest Wexford County, she saw it walking down the track on two legs. It was tall
and hunched over. It was covered in thick, black hair.
There have not been many reported sightings of the dogman in the upper peninsula of
Michigan. Two sightings were reported by Kaleb S. of National Mine, Michigan. He reports in
1980, his mother was carrying dishes from the living room to the kitchen when she described a
"horrible dog demon" looking in the window at her. In order for a man to see into that window,
he would have to have been about 7 feet tall.
Kaleb didn't take his mom's story seriously until the summer of 1994, when he saw the
creature himself. Kaleb got tired of waiting for his parents so he walked home himself. He took
a short cut through the old school trail. As he got to the end of his driveway, an ouline of a
figure emerged from the woods. It jumped down from the embankment near his house and ran
across his driveway. He described it as tall, fast, and with a dog-like snout. It ran with its arms
slightly bent in front of itself.
The most controversial evidence is the Gable film. It was shot in the 1970s. It shows a
scene which many believe shows the dogman. Some believe this film to be a joke. After a
careful study by film experts, it was decided not to be an illusion or trick. This seems to be the
best proof that the dogman exists.
In conclusion, the dogman has been claimed to be sighted many times. Steve Cook was not
the first person to think up the dogman, but he was the first to create a radio version. Is it true?
Does it really exist? Or is it just a scary song?
The Legend by Steve Cook
A cool summer mornin' in early June is when the legend began,....At a nameless logging
camp in Wexford County where the Manistee River ran. ....Eleven lumberjacks near the Garland
Swamp found an animal they thought was a dog. ....In a playful mood they chased it around ...'til
it ran inside a hollow log..... A logger named Johnson grabbed him a stick and poked around
inside... Then the thing let out an unearthly scream and came out ...and stood upright. ...None
of those men ever said very much about whatever happened then. ....They just packed up their
belongings and left that night and were never heard from again.
It was ten years later in '97 when a farmer near Buckley was found... Slumped over his plow,
his heart had stopped. There were dog tracks all around. ...Seven years past the turn of the
century they say a crazy old widow had a dream ....of dogs that circled her house at night. They
walked like men and screamed.... In 1917 a sheriff who was out a walkin' ...Found a driverless
wagon and tracks in the dust like wolves had been a stalkin'.... Near the roadside a four-horse
team lay dead with their eyes open wide.... When the vet finished up his examination he said it
looked like they died of fright... In '37 a schooner captain said several crew members had
reported... a pack of wild dogs roaming Bowers Harbor. His story was never recorded....
In '57 a man of the cloth found claw marks on an old church door... The newspaper said they
were made by a dog. He'd a had to stood seven foot four.... In '67 a van load of hippies told a
park ranger named Quinlan... they'd been awakened in the night by a scratch at the winda...
there was a dog-man looking' in and grinnin.' In '77 there were screams in the night near the
village of Bellaire... Could have been a bobcat, could have been the wind. Nobody looked up
there...Then in the summer of '87, near Luther it happened again.... At a cabin in the woods it
looked like maybe someone had tried to break in...There were cuts in the door that could only
have been made by very sharp teeth and claws...He didn't wear shoes cause he didn't have
feet; he walked on just two paws... So far this spring no stories have appeared. Have the
dogmen gone away? Have they disappeared?... Soon enough I guess we'll know cause summer
is almost here.... And in this decade called the 80s, the 7th year is here.... And somewhere in
the northwoods darkness a creature walks upright And the best advice you may ever get... Is
don't go out at night...