National Mine, Michigan - Summer 1980 & 1994

The vast wilderness areas of the Upper Peninsula seem tailor made for canid habitat. Yet surprisingly, we receive very few sightings of the Michigan Dogman from north of the Mackinac Bridge.

But when they come, U.P. experiences are dramatic. The following story is excerpted from Kaleb S., whose entire family was involved in encounters on two separate occasions, in 1980 and again in 1994:

"I am unable to sleep, thinking about the night I mentioned to you. Ever since I saw your page and realized that me and my mother's stories were not isolated, my thoughts about that night have been stirred up somehow. I admit, the dog entity I saw, as well as the one described by my mother, is somewhat different from those described in the accounts on your site. Yet, the fact that we both saw a tall dog-like creature moving on two legs in the yard of our isolated Upper Michigan home bears enough association for me. And, perhaps, it is just the degree of interaction with the being that makes my sighting a bit different.

A satellite image of the National Mine region near Ishpeming, Michigan

For many years, my mother would tell the story of what she had seen, when the topic of unknown things came into conversation. She says that one night, in the fall of 1980, she was carrying dishes from the front room to the kitchen. In the window, glaring in at her, was a "horrible dog demon," as she described it. Seeing it, she immediately fell to the floor, dropping the plates. This is how my dad describes finding her, broken dinner plates, hysterical, shaking, on the floor beneath the window. She always described the creature as dog-like and almost skeletal. To peer into the house from that particular window, a man would have to be almost 7 feet tall.

Me and the rest of the family never thought much of mom's story. I did not take her too seriously, and laughed it off with everyone else. But then I saw the creature myself. I was 13 years old, it was the summer of 1994. Me and my family were visiting a friend, an old fellow by the name of Harold who lived on the hill near National Mine school. It was getting late, and I was tired of waiting for my parents to leave, so I decided to walk home.

I took the old school trail that cut through the woods, and came out near the park. My family home was a bit isolated, outside of the rest of National Mine, near the old mine itself. As I approached the end of our long driveway, the sillouette of a tall figure emerged from the woods, jumped down from the embankment at the bottom of the hill, and ran across the end of my driveway. Jumping the wide ditch there, the entity ran fast across the road and leaped, without hesitation, into the thick brambles on the opposite side. I watched and listened as the creature continued that pace through the thick saplings in the swampy area across from my house. The figure was very fast, and held its arms slightly bent in front of itself as it ran. It very tall, with a dog-like snout.

I was still frozen on the edge of the road, listening for the rustling of branches that had stopped. Was it gone? I tried to rationalize what I had seen, but I could not think of any man could run that fast through a thick wall of trees in that swamp in daylight, let alone in the dark at 11:30 at night! I ran the strange figure over again and again in my head as I walked back, trying to make sense of it. Returning home, I was very nervous, but began watching TV... yet it soon became apparent I was not alone.

Over the sound of the TV, in my parents bedroom, I could hear very heavy breathing in the window. I listened closer, but did not turn down the TV volume. It was a deep throaty almost growling. Whatever it was WANTED me to hear it. It would stop for a time, but then start again...from the closest window in the next room, distinct. My chest was quivering, but I thought I would just distract myself with something else and my parents would be home soon. I went into the kitchen, sat at the table, and began writing a shopping list. After less than a minute, I heard footsteps on the gravel rocks near the steps to the front door. I thought "Oh, thank God! My parents are back!" and quickly went to the window to see them. They weren't there, I didnt see anybody at all. I sat back down and AGAIN, I could hear someone circle the house, walking on the gravel outside. I ran to the window, and the single street light showed nobody in the driveway. I knew it was that creature with the snout who had shown himself to me at the end of the driveway.

I wrote the story of that dog creature I saw in the National Mine School essay contest that year and won. I had my artist friend draw a cover picture of that tall canine figure leaping across the ditch as he bounded for the woods. The story and picture were displayed that season in the school glass cabinet with the comment "Sounds like a case for Unsolved Mysteries to me!"

I hope I can get to sleep now...maybe I just needed to get it out.

Sincerely,
-Kaleb"

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