The Dogman Symposium!

The first ever Dogman conference was held this past weekend in Ohio. The usual suspects were there, Monica Rawlins from "Monsterquest", authors Nick Refurn, Lyle Blackburn and Ken Gerhard from "Missing in Alaska" were in attendance. Is the Dogman real? They think so and it was held at a location of a frightening 1972 sighting...

From The Crescent-News, Ohio:

The cryptozoology world shined a spotlight on Defiance on Saturday as the first Dogman Symposium was held at VFW Post 3360.

Symposium attendees came from as far as New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They talked about the Mothman, ghosts, Men in Black and most of all, the dogman, after all it was his time to howl.

Master of ceremonies Lyle Blackburn said organizers decided to host the first Dogman Symposium in Defiance for several reasons.

“There are a lot of people interested in this phenomenon in the area,” Blackburn said. “(Organizers) already knew of the Defiance werewolf... It’s a fascinating case.”

The 1972 case, where several railroad workers described seeing a wolfman of some sort, as well as its central location to other sightings in the Midwest led organizers to have the event in the city. Speakers talked about what a dogman was or could be, variations of the creature as well as various sightings both in the recent past and historically.

John Tenney, an author as well as consultant for various TV shows including “Unsolved Mysteries,” discussed the Michigan Dogman. He explained that many people scoff at the idea of Bigfoot, dogmen or other creatures. Many state such creatures surely would have been found by now.

“As a person from Michigan, I know my dad and his friends go hunting for deer in deer season and many times don’t see a single one,” he said. “There are 6.5 million deer in Michigan. Now imagine a smart migratory being trying to stay far from us where they may only be a million or 100,000 of them across the globe. You won’t see them.”

He said it’s possible individuals just do not have the accurate language to describe unusual creatures. He gave the example of the Nain Rouge, a creature of Red Nation legend that originally was described as having a snout and fur. It was defined as protector of sorts for the tribe, however when the French arrived in the area and it was described to them, they called it a red dwarf or red devil. It became an omen of doom or disaster. In fact, each year Detroit has the Marche Du Nain Rouge to drive the creature out of town.

Tenney said a lot of bigfoot reports in Michigan are actually dogmen, or large canines upright. Other reports of strange creatures also may be dogmen. He said in the 1970s, hunters reported seeing a large hairy man wearing what seemed to be a feed bag on his face. Reports at the time called the creature a large, 7-foot tall unkempt hippy. Areas where the creature were found had odd wolf prints with a large toe in front.

He said sightings of dogmen continue. A recent sighting in Michigan came from a hunter...

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