*This primer draws heavily on the works of Linda Godfrey, Anna Larsson, and Aaron Deese, as well as a number of YouTube channels, so my sincerest thanks go to them for allowing me to use their work in my research*
The Basics
The Dogman is a possible cryptid, an unknown species that is rumored to exist, but hasn't been confirmed or documented by modern science. And if eyewitness accounts are to be believed, the dogman is a predatory, murderous monster to be feared and avoided at all costs. In addition, the dogman phenomenon is incredibly complex (and sometimes confusing), and it seems to have both biological and supernatural aspects to it.
Appearance
Dogmen are most often described as being wolflike or doglike in appearance (hence the name). In some cases, they are described as being like bipedal humanoid hyenas. This is most common in Africa, although it isn't unheard of in North America. In most reported sightings, with a few exceptions, eyewitnesses automatically think "Werewolf!" when they encounter these creatures. Dogmen have been likened in appearance to the vicious beasts seen in The Howling (1981), although they also seem to be just as ferocious as the creatures in the movie. People have also reported seeing dogmen resembling the monsters seen in the movies Bad Moon (1994), Dog Soldiers (2002), and even the massive, black-furred werewolf seen at the end of the movie in Van Helsing (2004).
Dogmen stand six to eight feet tall on average, although smaller and much larger creatures have been reported by eyewitnesses. Some of these creatures reportedly stand about three to four feet in height, and could possibly be pups or juveniles. The tallest dogman encountered (to this writer's knowledge) stood approximately twelve feet in height when standing fully erect.
Dogmen are able to move about and travel on all fours or bipedally. Witnesses frequently report hearing a popping sound when these creatures move from four legs to a standing position. This could possibly be the arm and leg bones changing position to a secondary socket that allows the creature to walk and run comfortably on two legs, as well as all fours. These creatures tend to have a stooping or hunched posture when standing upright, although they can stand straight up to their full height. One aspect of this switch to bipedal locomotion is that it very much frightens eyewitnesses, and these monsters seem to know that. It is possible that the act of standing upright is as much an intimidation tactic as it is practical. Perhaps this is a sort of non-verbal communication between the creature and the eyewitness that they are not dealing with an ordinary animal.
Many eyewitnesses have described these creatures as having an oversized head, to the point of being comically or even cartoonishly large. The head generally resembles that of a timber wolf or a German Shepard, but some eyewitnesses have also reported seeing creatures with a head like a mastiff's. Dogmen with heads like a Doberman-Pinscher are also mentioned frequently. Witnesses describe these creatures as having prominent pointed ears and an elongated snout. The ears are most often described as pointing straight up, while the length of the muzzle seems to vary from one creature to another. It's possible that these two traits could also vary from one region to another, or even from one continent to another.
The Dogman's eyes tend to be slanted and almond-shaped, giving the creature an angry or malicious look. The most common eye colors in regards to both eyeshine and the eyes themselves are yellow and amber, or even a combination of the two. On occasion, green eyes have been noted, and even white eyeshine has been reported. Blue eyes are rare, but not unheard of. Reports of black eyes aren't particularly common, but they have been noted in a few cases. Red eyes have been reported in a disturbingly high number of cases, and some have even allegedly seen the eyes change color from amber to red. And in a large number of reports, eyewitnesses have sworn that the eyes don't simply reflect the light, but instead glow a gold, amber, or a deep red, as if from an internal light source. This may very well be an indication that the Dogman is much more than just a flesh and blood animal, and could be at least partially supernatural in nature. There doesn't seem to be a way to tell a whether a dogman is malicious or means harm to the eyewitness by its eye color. However, it seems to be the ones with glowing red eyes that are the most hostile, as well as those with an amber-yellow.
Eyewitnesses often say that the Dogman seems to have more teeth than what should possibly be able to fit into its mouth, much less be able to close it. Eyewitnesses who have seen them up close report that these teeth seem to be self-sharpening. This seems to indicate that the teeth are interlocking, and the abrading of the teeth against one another is what keeps them sharp. Those who have seen these creatures up close and personal say that there are multiple rows of serrated, sharklike teeth in the beast's maw.
Nearly all reports of dogman encounters take note of or otherwise emphasize the muscular, powerful build of these creatures. They are sometimes described as looking like a bodybuilder, but with fur (like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the '80s). Most of the muscle mass seems to be concentrated around the upper arms, the chest, the neck, and the shoulders. These creatures tend to have a very wide chest and broad shoulders. This causes the dogman to look somewhat like a hyena when moving quadrupedally. The body tapers from the waist down, with muscular thighs and thin, skinny legs from the knees down. Some dogmen are more slender and sinewy in build, although they still have noticeable musculature. In a few cases, eyewitnesses have reported seeing emaciated, almost skeletal dogmen that appear to be severely malnourished, if not outright starving. People have estimated the weight of these creatures as being between three to five hundred pounds, although those are fairly conservative estimates.
Eyewitnesses describe dogmen as having long, muscular arms like an orangutan's. They are often described as being gangly and far longer than any natural species. Eyewitnesses often say that the hands of these creatures reach past the knees. The hands are pawlike and extended, with dark pads, long fingers, and claws that average two to three inches long. Sometimes they are described as being slightly curved, and others have a pronounced hook. These claws, by all accounts, are capable of ripping through flesh like a straight razor. They are even able to leave deep scratches or gashes in wood and even metal. These hands are most often described by eyewitnesses as being rather like those of a racoon, but there are also people who have seen dogmen with more or less humanlike hands. In these cases, the hands are exaggerated in size, having long fingers and long claws.
The legs of a dogman can be doglike (with inverted knees and haunches) or humanlike (similar to a sasquatch, but on a smaller scale). Genitalia are noted in some encounters, although it is most often males that are being described in these cases (and witnesses are often quite embarassed to mention it). When seen, the tails can be long and fluffy, thin, stumpy, or non-existent. The feet are sometimes said to be "stretched out" (whatever that may mean), while at other times they are simply oversized. Footprints tend to resemble that of a wolf or a dog, only on a larger scale. Other times, they appear to have a heel, as if the hocks had been pressed into the ground. Marks from the claws are clearly visible at the ends of each toe.
The fur of these creatures tends to display a wide variety of colors, including black, gray, mottled, blond, white, or red. The most common color reported by eyewitnesses is jet-black, which seems to absorb ambient light. In many cases, the fur is reported to be blacker than the night itself. Sometimes, the fur is described as being patchy like an animal with mange, with its skin visible. The skin itself is most often said to be black or gray, appearing to be identical to old, cracked leather. One anonymous eyewitness described the skin as looking like wet clay. Whether it was sweating or it had rained is anyone's guess.
Vocalizations
The most common sound that eyewitnesses have described in their encounters is a deep, low growl that they claim that they can actually feel reverberating through their body or even through the ground beneath their feet. Grunts and deep sniffing sounds are common as well. These creatures are sometimes described as panting or breathing heavily, like someone who has just finished running or someone using an oxygen tank. Dogmen are also known to make a sound like a cappuccino machine or a percolator, which is a type of pot that brews coffee by continually cycling the boiling or near-boiling liquid through the grounds using gravity until the desired strength is reached.
Dogmen are known to emit a deep, powerful howl, which usually coincides with an imminent encounter. These howls are much, much deeper and far more powerful than those of a wolf. Some eyewitnesses have said that they can actually feel these vocalizations reverberate through their bodies and the ground. These monsters are also reported as giving a horrifying, high-pitched scream like a fox or a mountain lion, but by all accounts it is far deeper and more primal than those of any natural animal. On a more disturbing note, a number of eyewitnesses have likened these screams to those of a woman being murdered. Eyewitnesses have also reported dogmen giving off a very loud, horrifying roar that seems to shake the surrounding area and reverberates through the body of the eyewitness.
It should be noted that it can be difficult to tell if these vocalizations are indeed coming from a dogman, without first seeing the creature making those sounds. Animals such as mountain lions and foxes are known to give off similar sounds, and it can be very eerie to hear them at night.
Odor
Most eyewitnesses say that a horrible odor precedes a dogman sighting. They have described it as a mix of wet dog and rotting meat. Some people report a smell of urine and a rotting carcass. Or, as Fat Bastard so eloquently said in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2003), "Hot, sick ass in a dead carcass!" In some cases, the odor is so utterly awful that eyewitnesses have reported feeling nauseated and coming close to vomiting outright.
Habitat
Dogmen seem to be everywhere these days, but not in such large numbers that an individual should be afraid of going out into the woods (yeah, right). They can be found all over the world, with their appearances and physical characteristics changing regionally or even continentally. In Africa, for example, these creatures are said to look more like hyenas than dogs or wolves.
Dogmen seem to be most at home in extremely dense forests and heavily wooded areas, which offer ample cover and innumerable places for these creatures to hide. This sort of terrain tends to have huge amounts of undergrowth (bushes and saplings, mostly) that humans would find impossible (or very uncomfortable) to travel through. Swamps, marshes, bogs, moors, and wetlands are also favored habitats. In certain areas, they're actually referred to as "swamp dogs" by the locals. In most cases, sightings usually occur within a mile of rivers, lakes, and other water sources in ninety-five to ninety-nine percent of reported encounters.
Dogmen are most often encountered on roads, sometimes nearly causing accidents. Most often, they are just simply crossing. In other instances, they are seen calmly sitting on their haunches eating roadkill. This would seem to indicate that dogmen are opportunistic predators and that they have a very high degree of intelligence. They have learned that roads are easier to travel on than the dense wooded terrain of their forest homes, and that the roads offer easy meals in the form of roadkill. It should be noted that even ordinary animals will take the path of least resistance when traveling to conserve their energy.
Dogmen seem to have a fondness for crossings of all sorts. This includes bridges, crossroads, bypasses, and other such liminal places. Cemeteries and graveyards are another favored hangout for dogmen, although exactly what it is they're doing there is anyone's guess. Some people say that they dig in order to feed upon the recently-buried dead. Others believe that they just like to hang out there, haunting these places like ghosts. In that same vein, dogmen are frequently encountered near First Nations burial mounds. They seem to act as the guardians of these ancient places, safeguarding the dead from theft and abuse by the living. Whether this means that they take it upon themselves to keep these sacred places safe or that they are supernatural guardians called up from the otherworld for that particular purpose is a matter of debate and opinion.
Military bases and installations are places where dogmen (and Sasquatch, oddly enough) are encountered quite frequently. This has led some to believe that these monsters are genetic abominations created by the military, presumably as a part of a top-secret research program to produce super-soldiers that would give them a decisive advantage in war.
Behavior
In a large number of reported encounters, the eyewitnesses describe the dogman as emanating malice, anger, or even evil, to the point that the eyewitnesses feel as if their lives are actually in grave danger. It seems to be the eyes that convey these feelings of terror and danger to the observer in these types of encounters. Many witnesses feel that these beasts are pure evil and perhaps even demonic in nature.
After an encounter, eyewitnesses get the impression that if the beast had truly wanted to kill them, then it would've done so, and there would be very little that they could do to stop it. It seems as if these creatures actually feed on the fear of the eyewitnesses. It seems that dogmen truly enjoy horrifying those people who are unfortunate enough to encounter them. In addition, many eyewitnesses report that these creatures seem to be toying or even playing with them while they try to escape. This seems to indicate to the eyewitnesses that dogmen truly enjoy the fear that they cause.
In most cases where a dogman charges at or chases the eyewitness, the creature seems to be content with merely chasing them out of the area. This indicates that dogmen are extremely territorial, with their own boundaries, and that human encroachment or intrusion will not be tolerated. Most encounters of this nature occur in the deep woods, and the eyewitnesses are usually hunters, hikers, and campers.
In most cases of lethal attacks, the incident was preceeded by provoking the dogman in one way or another. Encroaching upon their territory, coming too close to the creature's den, causing harm to the monster, and especially shooting at these creatures can result in horrible consequences. Drawing a weapon is a huge mistake and should never be an option unless one's life is in imminent danger. However, one has to remember that there are a great deal of unsolved disappearances and murders in the United States alone, and God only knows how many worldwide. This suggests that at least some dogmen will target and hunt humans for food (or sport) when the opportunity presents itself, regardless of whether the creature was provoked or not.
Dogmen have been known to show what could be amusement at the antics of eyewitnesses. This usually occurs with the cock of an eyebrow or a tilt of the head, and even a grin (without showing their teeth). This is a sign of human-level intelligence and suggests that at least some of these creatures possess what could be called a sense of humor. At least one eyewitness has reported hearing a dogman "laugh", which they described as "a wet choking sound".
Dogmen are known in some cases to bare their teeth in a mocking sneer or a snarling grin. This is one characteristic that frightens the witnesses the most. In the natural world, a smiling animal is not friendly. Instead, it indicates to humans that the creature is aggressive and dangerous.
For some strange reason, dogmen openly display hostility towards domestic dogs and have been known to attack, kill, and even consume them. Sometimes, they run off into the woods and are never seen again. In other cases, the bodies are found. These monsters will dispatch these poor animals in the cruelest ways, seemingly knowing that humans love their pets and can't stand to see them treated in such an inhuman manner. If there is a dogman prowling about, then keeping them inside after dark is the best option. If the pooch has to go outside, be sure to accompany the animal and carry a heavy-caliber firearm. Keep the animal in view at all times.
Livestock killings seem to coincide with initial encounters. Horses, pigs, chickens, and especially cows are most often targeted. People often describe these killings as being utterly gruesome, like something out of a horror movie. Most often, eyewitnesses say that the abdominal cavity has been savagely torn open and the soft innards taken. More often than not, there are limbs missing. In some cases, there have been reports of these animals found with their heads completely ripped off. Sometimes, there is no evidence of the animal having been eaten. Instead, these killings seem to be done for the sheer enjoyment of the act.
In areas that dogmen inhabit, gashes in the bark of the surrounding trees are often seen. These gashes are, by all accounts, very deep, often going right into the sapwood. These could be territorial markers, or they could be a warning to humans to stay away. It would be wise to heed that warning. The cost might be more than the eyewitness's animals and livelihood.
Some reports seem to indicate that dogmen will travel in packs or mated pairs. Eyewitnesses have also reported seeing 'cubs', suggesting that they can in fact reproduce and that, to some degree, there is a biological aspect to these creatures.
Although dogmen are most frequently encountered on roads and in the deep woods, they are also seen in rural areas on a regular basis. There are also accounts of dogmen being encountered in urban areas, and these types of sightings seem to be on the rise. These occasions seem to be when dogmen are the most dangerous, and hostile encounters are most frequent.
If some accounts are to be believed, there may be a more benign aspect to these creatures. There are accounts of dogmen actually saving humans from dangerous situations, wild animals, and even other monsters of the woods. They also seem to remember any acts of kindness done for them by humans, and they will repay that debt when eyewitnesses least expect it. This seems to be an indication that not all dogmen are the same, much like humans. Their personalities and the way that they view humans seems to differ from one dogman to the next. Perhaps not all dogmen are the violent, horrifying predators that cryptozoologists believe them to be?
A growing number of eyewitnesses have noted that dogmen frequently appear in trees, and that they are capable climbers. The claws on their hands and feet seem to make a partially arboreal lifestyle possible. They are able to travel through the canopy with alarming speed, using their hands to swing from branch to branch like an ape. They are also known to jump from large limbs and land in another tree. These creatures have also been observed dropping down from the trees at heights of at least twenty feet, with no indication of pain or injury from the dogman itself.
In many cases involving aggressive dogmen, eyewitnesses have heard these creatures running through the woods at full speed, breaking branches and even knocking small trees down. Eyewitnesses have likened this sound to "a T-Rex charging through the woods", a freight train, a charging bull, or a wrecking ball. Yeah, it's that loud.
Dogmen seem to truly enjoy tormenting and frightening humans more than anything else, and they especially seem to take a perverse delight in the psychological damage that they inflict on those who have the misfortune to encounter them. There are numerous accounts of these creatures circling peoples' homes throughout the night, and they are known to slash the outside walls of eyewitness homes, leaving deep scratches in the process. Oftentimes, they will walk right up onto the front porch, pacing back and forth loudly. Dogmen will try to enter using the door knob, and they will even pound on the door! Only rarely will dogmen try to gain entry. Instead, it seems that the beast is content with terrorizing the eyewitness and leaving them with the knowledge that it could have gotten in if it had really wanted to.
One of the creepiest aspects of the Dogman's seeming obsession with horrifying humans is its tendency to peer into the windows of a witness's home, preferably one that isn't covered by a curtain. In these cases, this behavior is almost always accompanied by the creature tapping on the glass with a clawed finger. In some cases, the creature will grin or smile at the eyewitness. In other instances, the creature's eyes may glow even brighter or even change color. It cannot be emphasized enough how terrifying this behavior is to the eyewitness. More often than not, such an encounter leads to lifelong trauma, paranoia, and anxiety. They are never able to quite forget the encounter, despite their best efforts. They lose sleep at night due to these memories, or they have horrible nightmares.
It seems that dogmen are active all times of the year. Winter, spring, summer, or fall, it doesn't seem to matter to these creatures. They may be less active during the winter, but they still need to eat and drink.
Abilities
In their accounts, many eyewitnesses describe these dogmen as having superhuman strength, incredible speed and endurance, and enhanced senses. According to one eyewitness account, a dogman was able to lift the back end of his pickup truck completely off of the ground and hold it several feet in the air for minutes at a time.
Dogmen can easily reach speeds of sixty-five to seventy miles per hour, especially when chasing a vehicle. However, if the vehicle surpasses seventy miles, they tend to lag behind or run off into the woods. Whether this is a physiological limitation or just causes the beast to lose interest is currently unknown. It's possible that this is yet another tactic that these creatures use to instill fear in eyewitnesses. Additionally, these creatures are reportedly able to leap incredible distances, often on wide roads that the beast clears in a single bound. Leaps of twenty to forty feet have been seen by eyewitnesses, often leaving them with their jaws on the floor.
Dogmen are known to shrug off gunfire, even multiple rounds at close range. Heavy-caliber weapons are able to inflict serious wounds, but even these weapons might not kill the creature. This would seem to indicate that the bone and muscular structure of the dogman's body are incredibly dense, granting them enormous resistance to conventional injury. They also seem to have a very high tolerance for pain. Both of these factors seem to play a role in why it's so difficult to kill these creatures. In many cases, little to no blood is seen or found. Eyewitnesses who have wounded a dogman have seen bloody wounds that would severely disable or downright kill a human, but these creatures seem to more or less ignore these types of injuries.
Some eyewitnesses report having heard ominous messages or outright threats in their heads from these creatures. Such messages usually say things like "You can't get me", "Don't tell anyone that you saw me, or I'll find you", "If you come back, I'll kill you", "I could kill you right now, and there's nothing you can do to stop me", "I let you escape, and I could've killed you if I had really wanted to", et cetera. This suggests that at least some of these creatures may have some degree of telepathy or are able to project their emotions or intentions outwards into the minds of humans.
In some cases, eyewitnesses report that these creatures are able to cloak themselves and effectively disappear from human sight. They seem to be able to bend ambient light around their bodies, producing a shimmering, mirage-like effect before they disappear. It should be noted that cloaking is also reported in some Bigfoot sightings.
Signs of an Impending Encounter
In the majority of dogman sightings, eyewitnesses say that the environment around them goes dead silent. All sounds of wildlife will stop abruptly, and even the wind will die down. This is especially common in the deep woods, although it can happen anywhere.
⦁An intense feeling of being watched. This is often one of the first things that eyewitnesses feel prior to an encounter.
⦁Being hit by a horrible, nauseating odor that smells like a combination of wet dog and rotting meat.
⦁A sense of impending dread that gets progressively worse as the witness ventures deeper into the wilderness.
⦁A loud, guttural howl in the distance that seems to get closer every time it's heard.
It should be noted that these signs are not exclusive to dogman encounters. Rather, these are commonly reported in all sorts of monster encounters.
What to Do if You Encounter the Dogman
⦁Stay calm. The Dogman thoroughly enjoys the fear it creates in eyewitnesses, and it is more likely to attack a person that panics.
⦁Do NOT try to run. This will trigger any predatory animal's instinct to give chase, and you are unlikely to outrun the creature. Instead, walk slowly away while keeping your eyes on the creature until you have exited the woods or you have reached your vehicle. Fleeing from the creature should only be done when there's no other option.
⦁Be aware of your surroundings at all times. The creature is less likely to surprise you if you're aware of what's going on around you.
⦁Try to communicate with the creature. As ridiculous as this may sound, there are accounts of dogmen speaking with the eyewitness through telepathy. Although this may not be the case for all of these creatures, it's certainly worth a try. All humans have some degree of psychic ability, after all. Concentrate, and think hard about what you want to say while the creature's attention is on you, and try to project your thoughts and feelings to the creature.
⦁Do NOT stare directly into the beast's eyes. Most animals view this as a challenge, and it just might provoke the creature into attacking.
⦁If you are armed, do NOT attempt to draw or otherwise use the weapon unless you feel that your life is in mortal danger. Some dogman researchers have claimed that there are accounts of truly gruesome murders committed by unknown assailants, and that threatening the creature with a weapon or even firing at the beast can lead to truly horrible consequences.
⦁Do NOT try to stand your ground and fight. These monsters have unnatural strength and endurance, are highly resistant to injury and pain, and are literally armed to the teeth with razor-sharp claws and fangs. Even if you're a weapons expert or a trained martial artist, these creatures will tear you apart and enjoy every last minute of it. And no, silver bullets won't work, either.
⦁Try to be as loud as you can and attempt to make yourself look more formidable than you really are. This is said to work with bears, so it may cause the creature to lose interest. If anything, the creature may cock an eyebrow at you and run back into the woods howling with laughter. :D
⦁Be brave, but do NOT be foolish. Don't take unnecessary risks or try anything drastic. You may not live to regret it.
⦁Be smart. Good advice in any situation, but it's essential when dealing with monsters. One mistake could cost you your life.
Psychological Effects of Sightings
One of the most frequently-reported aspects of dogman encounters is a horrible form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Most eyewitnesses are traumatized to an extreme degree by their experiences, and many of them have stated that their encounters absolutely destroyed their lives and how they viewed the world around them. This trauma seems to have as much to do with humans and their culture as it does with the monster itself. This may stem from the fact that parents tell their children that there are no such things as monsters when they're growing up. Werewolves are absolutely horrifying, and to see something that so closely resembles the modern Hollywood monster must be utterly devastating to them. In fact, it seems that the more that the more skeptical an individual is, the more likely they are to encounter such things later in life. Coming face to face with such creatures forces people to completely reevaluate everything that they thought they knew. If dogmen are real and prowling the deep woods, what else is out there? Oftentimes, the eyewitness will refuse to go out into the woods for months or even years. Some never go back at all, for fear of encountering another one of these horrible creatures. Those who do go back out into the woods never go without a weapon, and they never go alone or at night. Sightings can also lead to extreme paranoia, as many witnesses have described feeling as if they are constantly being watched. In a number of cases, the creatures have actually followed the witness back to their home. In these instances, that paranoia is both warranted and completely understandable.
In all reported sightings, another feeling that eyewitnesses describe is the debilitating fear that they report during and after their encounters. A number of people have said that seeing these things evokes pure, primal fear in them, to the point that people have actually urinated on themselves without realizing it. Those who have had the misfortune of encountering one of these beasts have repeatedly stated that it is the eyes that frightened them the most. Many eyewitnesses have claimed that it felt like the beast was staring right through them and into their soul. Very rarely is the eyewitness not traumatized to some degree.
Government Cover-Ups?
In many cases, after a dogman sighting or attack, it has been noted by eyewitnesses that the police, federal agents, men dressed in black business suits (the Men in Black), and the local government seem to take action rather quickly to hunt down and eliminate the creatures, destroy evidence, and speak to eyewitnesses. In almost all cases, these people will tell the eyewitnesses to shut up and never speak of the incident again, even to the point of threatening them. Even government employees (i.e. police officers and park rangers) who have witnessed such things have been threatened with termination if they ever speak of the incident again. Many of these government representatives will often force the notion upon witnesses that the creature they saw was "just a bear", and that's the end of it. No arguing or debating will be tolerated, and people who refuse to keep quiet about their encounters will quickly lose their job or, in a few instances, be relocated to another outpost out of state. Many witnesses wind up quitting to find a less dangerous (and less traumatic) job elsewhere. This scenario is common with sightings of other monsters as well, such as pale crawlers, the Wendigo, and Bigfoot (although traumatic encounters with Bigfoot seem to be few and far between).
Fear
One of the most common aspects of sightings reported by eyewitnesses is how frightened they are during and after an encounter. Nearly every story that this writer has heard and read emphasize the extreme fear and the sheer panic that these unfortunate individuals have reported feeling during an encounter.
The Werewolf Connection
It should be noted that this writer believes that genuine werewolves do exist, and that they are completely different creatures. One should not assume that sightings of dogmen led to werewolf legends. It's possible that these creatures are werewolves that are no longer able to become human again, but that doesn't explain the sheer number of these creatures.
Sources
Deese, Aaron. The Texas Dogman Triangle. Small Town Monsters Publishing, 2023.
Reel_Adventures: Dogman Encounters (YouTube)
What Lurks Beneath (YouTube)
The Cloaked Hedgehog (YouTube)
This is an ongoing project, since new encounters and information are released on a regular basis. If you have anything to add or think that I may have missed something, please let me know in the comments below! This post is subject to being edited and changed often, so please be aware of that.
