dogman
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɒɡmən/
ipa: /-mæn/
ipa: /ˈdɔɡmən/
ipa: /ˈdɑɡ-/
ipa: /-ˌmæn/
Forms: form: dogmen
Etymology: From dog (“the domesticated mammal Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris”) + -man (suffix denoting someone (possibly implied male) who is an expert in an area, who is employed or holds a position in an area, or who takes part in an activity) or man (senses 2 and 3).
Senses: examples: text: Every one of those dogmen has been either cajoled, bribed, or commanded by his own particular Circe to take the dear household pet out for an airing.
ref: 1899–1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Ulysses and the Dogman”, in Sixes and Sevens, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1911, →OCLC, page 64:
text: A dogman, he [John Moore] said, likes having tails wagged at him, wants to be looked up to, and tends for that reason to be quite a good leader. A catman, on the other hand, is made slightly uncomfortable by spaniel eyes and devoted tail thumpings. Dogmen seem to prefer the outdoors, adventure, jungles, deserts, and are attracted by the army. Little is heard of cats in army officers' messes or barracks.
ref: 1968, John Montgomery, “Are You a Catman?”, in The World of Cats, London; New York, N.Y.: Hamlyn Publishing Group, published 1970, →ISBN, page 11, column 1:
text: It is an error of modern dog men to wean puppies too soon—they should run with the bitch till six weeks old, being at the same time fed.
ref: 1893, Hugh Dalziel, Alexander C. Piesse, “FEEDING”, in The Diseases of Dogs: Their Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment. […], 4th edition, London: L. Upcott Gill, […], published 1905, →OCLC, page 12:
text: Abscess of the Jaw.— […] The system will require good support, and, it may be, a course of tonics, such as a grain or two of quinine, night and morning, in the form of a pill; or, using one of the Condition Pills you see advertised in this book—Clayton's, Dent's or Sergeant's—they are all good, made by dogmen for dogs, and you won't go amiss in using either of them in such cases.
ref: 1902, “TEETH”, in Al[vin] G[eorge] Eberhart, editor, Everything about Dogs […], 2nd edition, Camp Dennison, Oh.: The Eberhart Kennels, →OCLC, page 112:
text: Dogfights are most commonly staged in secluded rural areas such as barns or fields. […] When a contract is drawn up for a fight, the participants decide on a central location. They then contact a dogman in that area to make arrangements to have the fight at a location that he provides. […] On the day of the fight the participants and the spectators, usually members of the fraternity, which tends to be almost exclusively male, meet at a dogman’s house near the location where the fight will take place. […] This gathering of the fraternity before the event is a very important element of the dogmen subculture.
ref: 2001, Rhonda D. Evans, Craig J. Forsyth, “The World of Dogfighting”, in Alex Thio, Thomas C. Calhoun, editors, Readings in Deviant Behavior, 2nd edition, Needham Heights, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon, →ISBN, part 11 (Deviant Sports), page 333:
glosses: A man who has charge of dogs, such as a dog breeder or dog trainer; specifically, a man who trains dogs for the bloodsport of dogfighting.
examples: text: Now another important component of the skeleton is under scrutiny by some of our most respected dogmen and -women: the anatomy of the chest and the relationship between the correct rib cage and loin.
ref: 2010, AKC Gazette: The Official Journal for the Sport of Purebred Dogs, volume 127, New York, N.Y.: American Kennel Club, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 14, column 1:
glosses: Alternative form of dog man (“a man who likes dogs or prefers dogs as pets, often as opposed to liking cats”).
examples: text: [T]his tradition certainly influenced that of Dog-Men (cynanthropy) and of dog-headed men (cynocephaly), […] Dog-Men, however, have historically enjoyed a much richer and more varied mythology than their lycanthropic cousins, no doubt as a result of the ambiguity of the dog itself as much as of cultural or historical trends.
ref: 1991, David Gordon White, “Hell is Other People”, in Myths of the Dog-man, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 15:
text: A dogman’s legs are back bent, crooked as a dog’s. Its body is covered in fine fur, and its face has a dog-like snout and ear. A dogman’s arms and torso are completely humanoid, save for the its strange paws, that are vaguely human-like, but with thick dark claws.
ref: 2002, Sovereign Stone: Bestiary of Loerem, Lake Geneva, Wis.: Sovereign Press, →ISBN, page 56, column 1:
text: I was interested in the Wisconsin dogman sightings, which were kind of scary, but when you started talking about the ones showing up in bedrooms I must have been agape and my hair [standing] on end.
ref: 2016, Linda S. Godfrey, quoting Matt Ballotti, “Shadow Wolves”, in Monsters among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots, Wolfmen, Portals, Phantoms, and Odd Phenomena, New York, N.Y.: TarcherPerigee, →ISBN, pages 95–96:
text: Sightings of mysterious creatures that appear to be part human and part wolf are reported in modern times all over the world. […] Their apparent hybrid nature makes them “dogmen” or “man-wolves.” […] Reports of dogmen date to ancient times. In some cases, they were thought to be a type of debased human.
ref: 2018, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, “Introduction: An Overview of Werewolves and Their Kin”, in Rosemary Ellen Guiley, editor, Fate Presents Werewolves and Dogmen, New Milford, Conn.: Visionary Living, →ISBN:
topics: biology
cryptozoology
human-sciences
mysticism
mythology
natural-sciences
philosophy
sciences
zoology
glosses: An alleged cryptid or mythological creature that is part dog and part man; also (religion) a deity who is part dog and part man.
examples: text: You think he could barter and cheat / As vulgar diplomates use, / With the people’s heart in his breast? / […] / And filch the dogman’s meat / To feed the offspring of God?
ref: 1860, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Napoleon III in Italy”, in Poems before Congress, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, stanza XV, page 16:
glosses: A man who sells dog meat.
Related terms: cynanthropy
cynocephaly