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Ten Creepy Canines from Across the World

Marjorie Mackintosh — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:30:10 +0000

Sasquatches and sea monsters tend to get most of the love in the cryptid community, though most people don’t realize that they’re often only a stone’s throw away from a more canine-haunted creature. If these stories are to be believed at all. From the Black Dog of England to the Inugami Yokai of Japan, the world is filled with alleged legends that tend to bark and bite more than others. This list will cover ten of these cryptids that may make the mythical werewolf seem a bit less… well, mythical.

10 Böxenwolf

The first entry on this list may seem like your basic werewolf by appearance, but its mannerisms are certainly far different from its bloodthirsty kin. Legend says that if one happens to cross paths with this bipedal canine in the middle of the night, it’ll force you to carry it on your back to its destination.

“The Böxenwolf” is a name given to alleged werewolves found in the area near Hanover in Germany, mostly throughout the 18th century. Unlike modern werewolf legends, however, a simple bite and full moon aren’t enough to usher a transformation. Like most European werewolves at the time, the would-be wolf must make a covenant with the devil himself in order to receive a strap, or belt, that brings forth a transformation. Then, the wearer would have very little difficulty convincing peasants to hitch a ride, no matter how awkward the mode of transportation was.^[1]

9 La Bête du Gévaudan

France is where this next cryptid can be found, and unlike most of the cryptids on this list, La Bête du Gévaudan, or The Beast of Gevaudan in English, was only spotted over the course of three or four years before disappearing forever. Also, unlike other canines on this list, La Bête racked up a body count, a body count that approached one hundred.

This canine, described as a wolf the size of a small bull with red fur and a panther’s tail, was first spotted in 1764 when it attacked a young shepherdess by the name of Jeanne Voulet. La Bête would continue to terrorize pre-Revolutionary France until it caught the attention of King Louis XV himself, who would routinely organize hunts to find the creature. It’s even speculated that these costly hunts were a catalyst to the French Revolution, though they would be one example of many of the French aristocracy’s overspending.^[2]

8 Inugami

“Yokai” is the term used to describe a large number of legendary entities that hail from Japan, and a large number of Yokai possess animal forms. While the foxlike Kitsune is possibly the most well-known Yokai to have a canine appearance, Inugami is a spirit with the appearance of a straight-up dog. However, Inugami’s true, hidden form remains a bit darker than a simple spiritual-looking dog. This canine’s head is actually a preserved, mummified dog’s head bound in ceremonial wrappings!

The legend goes that Inugami is a spiritual servant summoned by sorcerers of Japan to follow every order bequeathed unto them, be the orders benign or malevolent. This Yokai can also possess poor travelers afflicted by heightened emotion and is said to enter its victim’s body through the ears. Inugami can even bestow an unstoppable hunger unto whoever they possess, almost giving them dog-like traits in the process, much like the bite of a werewolf. ^[3]

7 Tibicena

The Canary Islands, located off the northwest coast of Africa, are home to a particularly demonic dog known as the Tibicena. According to legend, these black-furred, red-eyed dogs were actually demons of the Guanche mythology by nature and are even thought to be children of the less-than-benevolent deity Guayota.

The Tibicena, however, does have a few variations on their reportings; sometimes, they are described with white fur, and sometimes, they aren’t even dogs at all, taking on the shapes of a boar or even a sasquatch. One thing is certain, however, be sure to avoid the caves that they call their home. No matter their shape or origin, the Tibicena is a hunter of human flesh and is even said to have been witnessed well into the 1900s.^[4]

6 The Beast of Bray Road

The U.S. is no stranger to werewolf stories, though some claim that the upright canids of North America are more of a modern phenomena than werewolves of old. Toward the end of the 1980s, near the city of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, one particular road, whose name at this point is, unsurprisingly, Bray Road, fell victim to a particular rash of werewolf sightings.

Described as usually six feet (1.8 meters) tall, the beast is pretty much what one might imagine when they first think of “werewolf”: clawed, with a wolflike head, and covered in fur. One of the first witnesses, Doris Gipson, was driving a friend home from a Halloween party when the beast came out from a cornfield to pursue her, even leaving scratch marks in Gipson’s videos. Sightings of this canine cryptid continue even to this day, and Wisconsin native Linda Godfrey keeps a good record of the many, many dozens of sightings in the Elkhorn area.^[5]

5 The Michigan Dogman

The Beast of Bray Road actually has a cousin right across Lake Michigan. And some even claim a connection between the two as the Michigan Dogman first received a rash of sightings in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan right about the same time that the Beast of Bray Road haunted Wisconsin. There is a twist, though; Radio DJ Steve Cook wrote a song about the supposed upright canine and played it on his radio station as an April Fool’s Day Prank in 1987. When fans started calling in, claiming to have seen the creature, it started to feel less like a prank.

Much like the Beast, however, the Michigan Dogman looks like your standard werewolf without too much variation, though it attacks far fewer cars and people than its other lycanthropic brethren. Sightings do continue to this day, however, and it is even claimed that the Dogman was spotted as far back as 1937 when a man in Paris, Michigan, saw it roam among a pack of otherwise normal dogs.^[6]

4 Malawi Terror Beast

The next entry on this list is an actually verifiably real entity. In 2003, three people were tragically murdered, and sixteen people were injured in the Dowa district of the country of Malawi. When investigated, authorities believed this to be the work of a rabid hyena, though said hyena was never actually caught. What the people of the area believed, however, was that it was a far larger, more dangerous canine.

Another odd detail about this supposed hyena is the fact that it didn’t completely eat people, which is very odd for a predator. The Malawi Terror Beast would have two separate rashes of appearances that year but would never be officially caught, even though Malawi’s official park rangers scoured the landscape for it.^[7]

3 Rougarou

Also known as the “Loup-Garou” in France and early North American French Territories or the “Lougarou” in Haiti. Even known by its Cajun name, “Rougarou,” this legendary walking canine shares a lot of similarities with the well-known werewolf myth, with one exception. The rougarou has the ability to change into its lycanthropic form at will!

The rougarou is pretty much described as the de-facto werewolf, a two-legged, furred wolf with sharp teeth and claws. It’s hard to pinpoint whether the legend of the French Canadian loup-garou or the Cajun rougarou came first, but both supposed werewolves began their prospective legends in the 17th century. In the case of the rougarou, this canine would prowl the Bayou, punishing bad Catholics who failed to practice Lent. ^[8]

2 Chupacabra

It’s very hard to have a name that directly translates into “Goat sucker” and still possess an air of malice. Such a feat, however, is accomplished by one of the most famous cryptids of all time, the Chupacabra. Haunting locales from Chile to Texas to Mexico to Puerto Rico, this strange, small hissing creature is by far the most well-known cryptid of Latin America. Some even claim to have witnessed it as far north as Canada.

While the most common rational explanations for the Chupacabra are that it is definitely a dog with mange, the actual legend itself does claim that this being is more reptilian than canine. Aside from a few quills on its back, though, some claim that this legendary beast resembles the hairless Xola dog. The main occupation of Chupacabra is far more bloodthirsty than a real dog’s, however, and it is said to be the culprit of many livestock mutilations, with a career spanning the 1970s all the way to the modern day.^[9]

1 Black Dog

Perhaps the most enigmatic of the creepy canines in the world is the ominous Black Dog, found all over the place in England. Even though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of Baskervilles or even the band Led Zeppelin may be most people’s entry point into this particular legend, it goes far deeper than merely a single sighting in a single remote town.

Also sometimes known as The Barghest or Black Shuck, the Black Dog begins his legend in 1677 in southern Devon when a squire supposedly sold his soul to the devil and now rides a pack of black dogs as his steed. But the legend of this mastiff-esque, red-eyed, massive dog has variations all over England and sometimes in Wales and Scotland. They are said to be malicious or foretell bad luck and are often found near allegedly haunted areas or places where particularly dramatic deaths have occurred.^[10]

10 Courageous and Clairvoyant Ghost-Hunting Canines!

Marjorie Mackintosh — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 19:20:18 +0000

Any dog owner will recall times when their pet has acted anxious or strange because of some perceived threat that the owner cannot identify. They can sense things far beyond the range of what human senses allow. But can they sense the supernatural? Some owners certainly think so, and several courageous canines have made names for themselves as effective paranormal investigators. Here are ten real-life Scooby-Doos who investigate the supernatural.

10 Bailey

Bailey is a golden retriever from Savannah, Georgia, who joins his owner on spooky walking tours of the city, which some say is the most haunted in the USA. Bailey got his start sniffing out spirits when his owner brought him along on the tours to help him socialize after he had been abused by a previous owner. The walks were successful, and they also revealed Bailey’s sixth sense.

According to his owner, he would often stop and stare into what looked like blank space, but when tourists took pictures, they could see mysterious orbs of light. After seeing how successful Bailey had been at spotting the spooky orbs, his owners started training another puppy to accompany them.^[1]

9 Bond, aka “Spooky-Doo”

Bond is a rescued racing greyhound who investigates the mysterious and macabre around Manchester, UK. His owners, who run an investigative agency called Paranormal Rescue, have described how Bond is even better than electronic equipment, and he always lets them know when he senses something. On a visit to a supposedly haunted college, which used to be a prison, Bond was chasing something around which was invisible to his owners. He eventually entered one of the cells, where he began choking.

After investigating the history of the prison, his owners would learn that it was the cell where two prisoners had killed themselves over 100 years before. Returning to the location later as part of a news report, Bond did not want to enter the cell again, which his owner believes is because of Bond’s eerie experience the last time.^[2]

8 Maddie

Maddie might be the most famous of the fearless dogs on this list. She starred in the U.S. cable TV series Ghost Hunters, and as part of The Atlantic Paranormal Society featured in the show, she has a slightly different role than some other dogs in similar lines of work. Her handler explained that she is trained to sniff out signs of animal activity, something which could be helpful when it comes to ruling out causes of suspected supernatural phenomena. However, he also says Maddie is highly sensitive to magnetic fields, which the team believes can be evidence of paranormal activity.

They also value Maddie’s honest, unbiased approach to investigations. Being a dog, she does not form any judgments or expectations before visiting an alleged haunted location. It is possible that a dog’s instincts and responses are more reliable than even the experienced human members of the team.^[3]

7 Basil

Basil works alongside his owner, spirit medium Ian Wood, as part of the Wigan-based Sixth Sense Ghost Hunters in the UK. The name of the team is apt because, alongside his heightened senses of smell and hearing, 14-year-old Basil can apparently communicate with the dead. The duo’s favorite haunt is the Wigan Old Courts, which has a long history of ghostly goings-on, including coffins crashing through walls. Basil barks whenever she notices something strange, and her owner always picks up on something there, where people have been hung in the past.

When a film crew came to join them on one of their investigations, they took them to the cells at the Old Courts, where many dangerous people used to be held. The cameramen ended up crying and becoming sick, and then they refused to return to the cells. Basil showed more bravery and continued to accompany guests on tours of the location.^[4]

6 Watson

Watson is another canine who has made a career as a TV star. The British bulldog is the fearless partner of Yvette Fielding, who hosts the show Most Haunted in the UK. Fielding did not originally intend for Watson to join her on the show, but one instance of his bravery showed that he was the right dog for the job.

On his first visit to a location with Fielding, he walked straight into a room that the on-site security guard’s German shepherd refused to enter. The room was a suspected center of poltergeist activity. Restoration workers reported objects moving around mysteriously, being pulled off of ladders, and hearing banging noises not caused by their work. Although calm and unfazed by his supernatural encounters, Watson still lets others know when he has noticed something by striking an intense pose with his ears sticking up, like he is going to run at something. He also growls when he suspects a ghost is present and refuses any attempts to pull him away.^[5]

5 Ridley

Some paranormal investigators believe a dog’s sensitivity to spiritual energy is a combination of nature and nurture, like Zak Bagans of the TV series Ghost Adventures. While he believes animals have a heightened awareness of spirits, he explained in an interview that he had to teach Ridley how to hunt ghosts.

The size of the dog does not matter, though; Ridley is a tiny Yorkshire terrier who Zak says can kick some demon butt. Ridley rarely had the chance to show off his skills, however. Not long after adopting him, Zak had to leave Ridley in the care of his mother because of the amount of traveling he had to do. Still, it is probably good to know his family is safe from supernatural harm.^[6]

4 Gracie

A more frequent guest on Ghost Adventures was Zak’s older dog, Gracie, who he describes as a “highly specialized piece of equipment.” In one on-screen investigation, Gracie conducted a sweep of a saloon reported to be haunted by an evil old hag.

After finishing her search, she unusually jumped up and rested her front paws on Zak to physically stop him from moving further into one of the rooms. That room was said to be the site where the old hag had attacked someone. Gracie also focused intensely on one of the corners of the room, with her ears sticking up to show full alertness. After leaving the room, Zak said he had never seen such fear in her eyes. This was worrying as he had immense trust in her instincts after their previous experiences together, which included living in a very haunted house.^[7]

3 Glimmer

Glimmer is the canine ghost detector of Wolf Paranormal Investigations, a team operating in Canada. Glimmer’s success was such that she also made it onto TV in a local news report. Her owner also believes animals are highly sensitive to evidence of the paranormal, specifically fluctuations in magnetic fields and energies that cannot be detected by humans. She does not see anything surprising about this, comparing it to the way dogs can detect earthquakes before people are aware they will happen.

She trained Glimmer to provide responses to the energies she senses, which are documented on their website. She will sit and relax in the presence of positive energies but still stare in the direction of what is causing it. When there are negative energies, she will not sit and will become tense, hiding her tail between her legs and panting.^[8]

2 Bossy the “Psychic Dog”

Bossy has become something of a YouTube sensation because of her supernatural senses. She can be seen on the YouTube channel of the Ghost Hunters Queensland South Team, based in Brisbane, Australia, where she has racked up over 10 million views. Her owner describes how Bossy has been sensing paranormal activity in the house they share, which they know because Bossy only ever barks or growls when something has disturbed her.

Filming at night on a security camera in their bedroom, Bossy can be seen in clips waking up after mysterious orbs of light have passed through the room and staring in their direction. Another clip shows her growling at something under a bed in a room where things had been knocked over in a way her owners could not explain. Despite Bossy being active in hunting spirits in her haunted home, it is unclear whether she joins the team on their investigations.^[9]

1 Pixie

Pixie is another dog who proves that when it comes to confronting spooky entities, size does not matter. Pixie was a Jack Russell terrier who accompanied tourists on her owner’s guided walks, the Ghost Tours of America, in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Initially, Pixie only came along so she could have a walk, but soon she would begin to stop in certain spots and refuse to move. When tourists took pictures at these spots, they often noticed orbs in the photos. Pixie became the location scout for new tours as she was the only one who seemed to be able to verify locations as actually haunted.

In one old telephone building, where she appeared fascinated by a specific corner, a tourist took a photo that clearly showed an apparition right in the spot Pixie was interested in. Pixie was said to be highly professional, not being disturbed by other sounds or smells while on the job. She died aged 13 in 2012, and while she did not return as a ghost, she reportedly communicated with her owners from the beyond.^[10]