The Cadejo

This incident happened to my husband, a long time ago before he met me. He gave me permission to share with you. This story is unusual for him, because Ramon is from a small city in Nicaragua, and grew up hearing stories about supernatural beings such as Chupacabra and La Llorana. However, with a civil war going on around him, he became very aware of danger from living people, and less concerned with the otherworldly. As a result, he generally gives little thought to the supernatural.

During the summer breaks at college, he would work his stepfather's land in the north of the country, tending the animals and mending fences. He enjoyed the physical work, and the extra cash he earned for the upcoming semester.

One evening, just after sunset, he was finishing up some work alone and gathering up his tools to go back to the house when, from the darkness of trees and brush, a white dog emerged, wagging its tail and walking up to Ramon. The dog acted happy and playful. It was a medium sized dog, nothing remarkable about it except its color, which in the glow of Ramon's light seemed to be all white. Ramon, an animal lover, patted the dog on the head, ruffed up its fur along its back, and then found a small stick to toss for it. As the dog trotted for the stick that lay about 30 feet away in the dirt, Ramon noticed that even though the dog was walking away from him, it seemed to be growing in size. By the time the dog reached the stick, it looked to be at least a foot or two taller, larger than a greyhound... About the size of a small donkey.

The dog happily returned with the stick, wagging its tail and with a playful demeanor, seeming to shrink as it approached him and was normal sized again. Ramon felt something strange was definitely going on, so he gestured to the dog to get away, and told him to get out of there, to go home. The dog trotted back into the darkness, growing in size again, but soon was out of sight.

When Ramon returned to the house, he asked the other farm hands if anyone had a white dog, saying it was running loose on the property. The farm hands said that no one had a light colored dog, at least no one they knew, and no one had seen a loose dog. He told them about his encounter. They said that it sounds like he was blessed with a visit from the Cadejo.

In Nicaragua, a white Cadejo is considered good luck, or at least a neutral encounter. A black Cadejo is bad luck, and may even attack you and hurt or kill you. Sometimes Cadejos are described as having horns or other non-canine features. Ramon saw no horns, but has no explanation on how the animal could change in size so obviously.

Ramon thinks that what he saw on his stepdad's land was a Cadejo, that he knew in his gut this was no normal dog. He was out on the property, far from anything reflective that would skew his perspective. He did make inquiries with neighbors about dogs that could match the description, but no one came forward with any known dog of that coloring in the area. He's just grateful it was a white Cadejo.