Case file · Folklore / legend
The Cadejo, black and white dogs of the night
A Nicaraguan description in the Journal of American Folklore (1891) is among the earliest printed records of the Cadejo, a spectral dog that follows people walking at night: the white one protects them, the black one leads them to harm.
1891 CE · 12.14, -86.25 · status: legend
The account
The Cadejo is told across Central America and southern Mexico. Scholars link it to Mesoamerican beliefs in dogs as guides of the dead and in animal companions (nahual), blended with Spanish lore.