Interesting that this is picking up again. I'm based in Cornwall so obviously not close to the Great Lakes myself, but I've been tracking the global distribution patterns of Dogman reports for about three years now and theres a definite clustering behaviour that doesn't get talked about enough.
What strikes me about the Great Lakes concentration is the proximity to deep water and the ley line intersections running through that region. Same pattern shows up in parts of Dartmoor and the Welsh borders over here. I'm not saying the geography causes the sightings but there's clearly a correlation that keeps appearing when you map them properly.
The uptick you're describing - is it specifically the Michigan side or spreading across all five lakes? Because if its moving northeast toward Ontario that would fit a pattern I noticed in the 2019-2021 data. Anyone keeping proper timestamped records rather than just posting on social media would be doing genuine research a favour here.