Canaan

AKC Group: Herding

Club: Canaan Dog Club of America

Secretary : Tracey Kopea
Address: 1175 Iroquois Run, Macedonia, OH , 44056-1336
Website: www.cdca.org
Club Type: Specialty

General Apperance:

The Canaan Dog is a herding and flock guardian dog native to the Middle East. He is aloof with strangers, inquisitive, loyal and loving with his family. His medium-size, square body is without extremes, showing a clear, sharp outline. The Canaan Dog moves with athletic agility and grace in a quick, brisk, ground-covering trot. He has a wedge-shaped head with low-set erect ears, a bushy tail that curls over the back when excited, and a straight, harsh, flat-lying double coat.

Size:

Size --Height at the withers is 20 to 24 inches for dogs and 19 to 23 inches for bitches. The ideal Canaan Dog lies in the middle of the stated ranges. Disqualifications--Dogs less than 20 inches or more than 25 inches. Bitches less than 18 inches or more than 23 inches. Proportion --Square when measured from the point of the withers to the base of the tail and from the point of the withers to the ground. Substance --Moderate. Dogs generally weigh 45 to 55 pounds and bitches approximately 35 to 45 pounds. Dogs distinctly masculine without coarseness and bitches feminine without over-refinement.

Coat:

Double coat. Outer coat-straight, harsh, flat-lying, with slight ruff. Ruff more pronounced on males. Length of outer coat ½ to 1½ inch; longer on ruff and back of thighs, shorter on body, legs and head. Undercoat--straight, soft, short, flat-lying, density varying with climate. Tail bushy, increasing in plumage from set to end of bones, then tapering to pointed tip. Faults--Excessively long guard coat that masks the clean outline of the dog. Any trimming that alters the natural appearance of the dog.

Temperament:

Alert, vigilant, devoted and docile with his family. Reserved and aloof with strangers. Highly territorial, serving as a responsive companion and natural guardian. Very vocal, persistent. Easily trained. Faults--Shyness or dominance toward people.

History:

The Canaan Dog, the natural breed of Israel, dates back to Biblical times, originatingin the Land of Canaan. Drawings found on the tombs at Beni-Hassan, dating from 2200 to 2000 B.C., depict dogs that show an unmistakable resemblance to the Canaan Dog of today.

The Canaan Dog waas the guard and herd dog of the ancient Israelites, guarding their camps and flocks. They were plentiful in the region until the dispersion of the Israelites by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago. As the Hebrew population dropped, the majority of the dogs sought refuge in the Negev Desert, a natural reservoir of Israeli wildlife. Avoiding extinction, they remained undomesticated for the most part, although some lived with the Bedouins and earned their keep by guarding the herds and camps. Some were also guards for the Druze on Mount Carmel.

This was how the Canaan Dog survived until the arrival of Dr. Rudolphina Menzel, who was asked by the Haganah (a Jewish self-defense organization) to develop a dog to guard the isolated Jewish settlements and supervise the build-up of war dogs for Israel's coming War of Independence. Remembering the Canaan Dog living in the desert, she knew only the fittest would have survived such hardships. As a breed the Canaan Dog proved highly intelligent and easily trainable, serving as sentry dogs, messengers, Red Cross helpers, and land mine locators. During World War II, Dr. Menzel recruited and trained more than 400 of the best dogs as mine detectors for the Middle East forces, and they proved superior to the mechanical detectors.

After the war, Dr. Menzel dedicated her time to helping the blind and in 1949 founded The Institute for Orientation and Mobility of the Blind, the only one of its kind in the Middle East. The entire Canaan Dog breeding program was concentrated within the Institute, where a solid foundation of kennel-raised Canaan Dogs was established that carried the name B'Nei Habitachon. The breed was first recognized by the Palestine Kennel Club, the forerunner of the Israel Kennel Club. By 1948, there were about 150 Canaan Dogs registered in their stud book.

On September 7, 1965, Ursula Berkowitz of Oxnard, California, imported the first four Canaan Dogs with the idea of establishing the breed in the United States. The Canaan Dog Club of America was formed the same year, and stud book records were kept from these first reports.

The Canaan Dog entered the Miscellaneous Class in June 1989, and dogs were registered in the AKC Stud Book as of June 1, 1997. The dogs began competing in conformation on August 12, 1997.