Horned Dogmen

This entry is going to indulge in some original research. Something I’ve noticed among dogman encounters is the occasional mention of horned dogmen. The cryptid community is usually pretty thorough in classifying subtypes of cryptids. For instance there’s standard, hyena and rottweiler types of dogmen, based on their head and muzzle shape. Yet I haven’t seen anyone else in the cryptid community discuss horned dogmen as a category, just scattered unrelated stories. It’s possible that’s because these creatures aren’t always considered dogmen, but demons, or goatment who happen to have a canine head, although I would think that quality is important enough to change what sort of cryptid they’re classified as.

So I’ve gathered here all the horned dogmen stories I could find. 

Caldwell’s beasts

This first encounter happened to Roger Caldwell in October of 2005. He was on a hiking trip along the Appalachian Trail through North Carolina at the time. Mr Caldwell was an experienced hiker who had travelled along the Appalachian Trail before and was familiar with this area of it. He was familiar with the various animals of the local area. He was out camping and hiking more often than he was in civilization. Yet what he encountered on this trip scared him so bad he didn’t go camping or hiking again for a full year. 

It was approaching sunset. Mr. Caldwell was deep in the forest, far from a road crossing and in an area without cell service. He was camping solo this time. Caldwell found a suitable campsite and set up his tent. After setting up camp he walked around to familiarize himself with the area, since it wasn’t quite dark yet. 

While he was out Caldwell noticed it was getting dark faster than usual. Assuming he had spent more time out than he had estimated, he started walking back to camp. On the way back Caldwell saw what he thought was a large dog sitting off the trail to his right. It was turned away from him and listening for something. Caldwell got within ten feet of the dog, when much to his surprise the beast stood up on two legs. Mr Caldwell noticed it had horns like a goat, but was otherwise doglike. The creature was at least eight feet tall. 

Caldwell was overcome with primal fear and ran for his campsite. He could hear the dogman chasing him down the path. Caldwell reached his campsite, and stood with the fire between himself and the approaching creature. He could see it running on two legs like a man. Caldwell grabbed his gun from the tent. The dogman circled around the edge of the camp, staying on the edge of the firelight. Caldwell repositioned himself around the fire, always keeping it between himself and the monster. He could see all of the creature now and noticed it had goat like hooves as well. Its eyes glowed fiery red. The creature occasionally tried to approach closer, but would scream and back away again, almost like the fire light hurt it.  

Caldwell heard something else approaching camp, it sounded like two more creatures. He dreaded what else this could be, if it was more dogmen coming to aid this creature. He heard rocks being thrown at his tent. But Caldwell stayed steadfast in his position by the fire. One creature sounded large and heavy, the other faster and lighter. They both sounded like they were walking on four legs this time. Then they emerged from the forest at the edge of camp. 

One was gorilla like, muscular and covered in reddish fur. It had curled ram like horns. It walked on all fours, like an actual gorilla, and was clearly not a big foot. The other was a wolf goat like hybrid, which walked on all fours like a normal canine. The ape like creature hand motioned to the dogman, who left Caldwell and walked away down the path with the two other creatures. 

Once they were gone Caldwell noticed the darkness became slightly less dark and he could see the stars for the first time. And there was the sound of wind and night insects, whereas before it had been completely silent. Caldwell sat close to the fire the entire night and didn’t get any sleep. First thing in the morning he packed up his belongings and made a bee line for the closest road crossing where he left the Appalachian trail. 

Demon of Dąbrowa Górnicza 

This next story takes place in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland, during the winter of 2004. The unnamed witness was walking along a dark road with his parents. This road was rumoured to be haunted and had plenty of other stories of paranormal events happening along it. As the family returned to their car they spotted a pair of glowing eyes to the side of the road. They had to walk by the eyes to get to their car. So they approached cautiously. 

As they passed by the eyes they saw they belonged to a monster. The witness described it as standing upright like a man, being covered in goat like hair. Its face was of a wolf, and it had antlers on its head. The monster gestured to the family, although the witness didn’t say what gesture it made. The family went running in a mad dash for the car, got in and drove away in fear. 

Roy’s Dogman

This story happened to an avid hiker named Roy.  He had always enjoyed hiking and camping around the Great Smoky Mountains, and had been doing so since he was a young boy. Roy was an experienced outdoorsman who was very familiar with the area. 

Roy and his hiking buddies were camping on a ridge near Tuckaleechee Cove. Roy awoke in the middle of the night and heard a frightening scream. At first he thought it was just a bobcat, but he thought it was a little off, a little too deep and guttural. He shined the flashlight around the treeline and didn’t see anything, so he wrote it off as odd but not important and went back to sleep. The next morning he asked his friends if they had heard the scream, but none of them had. 

Later that morning they were on their way hiking again. They were walking along a less used path that descended steeply down the ridge. Roy had gotten ahead of the group and was out quite a ways in front of his friends. Roy heard loud cracking branches and undergrowth up ahead. He prepared for an encounter with a bear. Instead a tall skinny creature walking on two legs emerged from the bushes. It had a dog like body and head, but stood upright. Long horns protruded from its head. It had very dark fur. 

The creature stood 30 feet in front of him. Roy just froze, not knowing what to do. The creature looked over at Roy and they locked eyes. Then the creature wanded off back into the forest. Once his friends caught up they noticed how shocked Roy was. He told them what happened but they just laughed at him. 

Roy said he used to be a strong skeptic about cryptids and other paranormal things in the woods, but now he has the utmost respect for people who have gone through such paranormal encounters. His entire worldview had been altered by the encounter. 

Brooklyn Dog Demon

This story happened to two unnamed brothers. The one writing called himself J. It happened in Brooklyn, New York, in the summer of 2018. It was around 7pm, and the two brothers were returning home from dinner at a local restaurant. 

They decided to cut down a narrow alleyway, which led to a yard behind some apartment buildings with a tree in it. Once they reach the end of the ally and enter the yard they saw

a humanoid figure in the tree branches. They assume this was a regular person acting weird. The brothers discussed with each other if they should just walk by this guy, or turn around. Then the being jumped down from the tree and stood up. The two witnesses saw that the creature was not human. Its body looked mostly human, but its head was canine, and it had curled ram’s horns. It was black all over and had a sinister look to it. 

The monster stared at them with compelling eyes. The two men looked away from the creature’s gaze, not wanting to look into its eyes. J felt like the creature was looking into his soul and that if he returned glances it would have some sort of power over him. He had a feeling this creature was a demon. Although J didn’t know why he thought that, he wasn’t a very religious person. 

The two brothers cautiously backed down the alleyway, not wanting to make any sudden movements in case it caused the beast to chase them. It just stood there staring at them the whole time. Once the two brothers got to the main road they ran for their lives. They heard something heavy jump on the balcony of the nearby building. They didn’t know if this was the same creature, if it had somehow made an impossibly long leep, or another similar creature. They didn’t look back and just kept running all the way to their apartment. 

Gloucestershire Dogman

This story happened to an unnamed witness in Gloucestershire, England, in March 2024. When this article was posted on Phantoms and Monsters the events had just happened to the witness a week prior. 

It was 2am, the witness was walking home alone after hanging out with friends in the evening. He lived in the countryside, and to get home from his location he had to cross a small forest and some farm fields. This didn’t bother the witness, as England has no large dangerous animals, and this part of the country was quite safe from human dangers too. The witness also states that he was a skeptic who wasn’t concerned with supernatural fears either. 

On his way home he heard sticks cracking in the forest like something walking alongside him. He assumed it was an ordinary animal, like a fox or a badger, even though it sounded heavier. Still the witness thought nothing of this at the time. 

He passed through the gate that separated the forest from the farm field. As he continued walking he heard something hiss behind him, it was a low heavy hiss. He turned around and saw a skinny dog like creature with horns standing upright by the edge of the forest. The witness didn’t believe what he was seeing and stared in confusion. He assumed this was actually a person, and what he was seeing was distorted by the low light and distance. While he was watching he saw the thing start to walk towards him. Seeing the monster move left no doubt in his mind that this thing was real, and not human. The witness panicked and went running through the farm field as fast as he could. Half way through the farm field he looked back as his pursuer. It was gone, no monster or human was there. The witness felt like he had been right the first time that it was only a trick of the light and he was freaking himself out over nothing. So he walked the rest of the way home, cautious, but not actually believing there was any danger. 

Once he reaches the edge of his yard he sees the light at the front of the house switch on. This was a motion detecting light over his driveway. For some reason this light turning on gave the witness a deep sense of dread. He went running for the back door and went inside the house. Inside he went up to his bedroom, which overlooked the driveway. He looked out his window and saw the dogman in the driveway, sniffing around the cars. This time it was far closer, and the witness could see every detail. The creature was tall and skinny. It had horns that had smaller horns coming off of them. I’m not sure how to interpret this. It sounds like antlers, but I feel like the witness would have said they were antlers if that was the case. 

The witness pulled the curtains across his windows and hid in his room for the rest of the night. In the morning there was no sign of the creature. 

Lon Strickler determined this took place near the Cotswold, an area known for a multitude of strange occurrences, including werewolf sightings. 

Sources

Caldwell’s monsters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NxL-IkeIw8&ab_channel=WhatLurksBeneath

Polish dogman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggql7DkwyQw&ab_channel=WhatLurksBeneath

Roy’s dogman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4fe0juD6mg&ab_channel=WhatLurksBeneath

Brooklyn dogman https://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/2023/08/black-horned-dogman-follows-brooklyn-ny.html

Gloucestershire dogman  https://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/2024/03/upright-horned-werewolf-reported-in.html