Canaan Dog Breed

The Canaan Dog was an all-purpose dog even back in prehistoric times, an apparent fact made obvious to this day by the cave drawings from several thousand years ago: some were depicted as having "leashes" and accompanying their masters who themselves were rendered with different tools in hand. Over the many millennia, Canaan were trained to guard, protect, herd, track, be messengers, wage war, locate land mines, and do so much more. These days, these dogs' many talents tend to be utilized only in near- and middle-Eastern regions. Those in the Western world are often only guarding manicured lawns. They are dogs that nevertheless need an experienced owner even as they are great family pets.

Here are some Canaan Dog facts:

Canaan Dogs are small, lean, and look like a fox, and they are primitive even as they are amazingly sharp. They can assesses most any situation long before it develops, and they are extremely adept at dealing with just about any given situation and in extreme desert conditions. You should do all you can to get as much information about this breed if you want one of these dogs.

These dogs have thrived even as other dogs — and entire species, peoples, and nations have come and gone — and this is no doubt proof of this dog's significant intellect. The fact that they can be trained to perform a wide variety of jobs is further proof.

They tend to not be barkers, but they do get excited when something is amiss. On a farm or in the desert, this may not be much, but in a busy city or on a suburban street, this can be a lot. Along with this dog's fierce territorial and protective characteristics, these dogs simply must be trained early, firmly, and constantly.

High desert life requires two things that seem oppositional: preservation of energy (i.e., resting whenever possible) and constant expenditures of energy (to endure the brutal heat). Canaan Dog 101 is imperative: a couple short walks every day or so is not at all enough. Cananni require mental stimulation, different activities, and lots of attention much of the time.

There is perhaps no richer, older, or more intriguing canine story than is found in Canaan Dog history. Exquisite, massive, and innovative cave drawings dating back some 8,000 years clearly depict the eastern-based Pariah Dog, which is the direct forebear of the Canaan Dog.

If you are wondering how the breed got its name, it's no coincidence that there is the Land of Canaan — this is where the dogs came from! The Pariah Dogs were first noted as having been dogs that were used by the Israelites to guard property and herd flocks. The Romans sent the Hebrews as well as the dogs scattering across the desert. There were those that were kept by the Bedouin where they worked much as they had with Hebrew people before the crisis.

In the 1930s, as WW2 was building to a slow crescendo, a Dr. Rudolphina Menzel became a key figure in the breed's modern development. Israel settlements needed protection, and the Canaan Dog was trained en masse to be dogs of war for what would later be known as the War of Independence. As these dogs had long submitted in the harsh environs and hot climes of the high desert, she rightly imagined the breed to be a superior dog for this purpose. Although feral and on the verge of being wild, the dogs prior domestication was easily revived, and the intelligence, hardiness, and war-worthiness was easily brought to the fore.

After the war, in the 1950s, the dogs proved an amazing adaptability in that they were easily converted to peacetime work. The Institute for Orientation and Mobility of the Blind, founded by Dr. Menzel in 1949, provided a base for the dogs' new career. A breeding program was established, and the Palestine Kennel Club (which later became the Israel Kennel Club) formally recognized the breed.

In late 1965, the first of the Cananni (as they are known in plural form) were introduced to the United States. A few decades later, in 1996, the American Kennel Club (AKC) accepted the Canaan Dog Club of America to sponsor the breed. In the following year, the AKC formally recognized the Canaan Dog.

When it comes to Canaan Dog breeds, there is just one. While there are wild Canaani that are much different in temperament, they are not considered a separate breed. There are, however, many loosely defined varieties. Some breeders and owners identify these variations by region, and some prefer to distinguish Canaan Dog varietals by coat color.

The coat style is the same regardless of the region or color. Reddish-brown is the coat color that is the most common and oldest of this breed. There seems to be no catalogue of what colors might occur in which regions, and this seems to further confuse the non-standard varieties regarding these dogs.

Regional varieties are identified more by behavior than anything else, and that variation becomes more obvious the farther you get from Israel. Cataloging those varieties based on behavior is a huge task that apparently has not yet been undertaken.

Canaan dogs, while extremely smart and extremely versatile, are nonetheless given to primacy when it comes to being territorial, protective, and defensive. The typical Canaan Dog temperament is very suspicious of people they don't know well or at all. They tend to regard other dogs and most all non-canine animals as either food, predators, or both. It is not unusual for this breed's personality to exhibit signs of superiority around kids and perhaps even adults.

Still, these dogs posses characteristics the make them much less aggressive when patience, training, and socialization is used. Once they are primed, they can be used for a vast array of jobs — although they must be closely supervised and always restrained as they will never really lose their very strong independence. The adventurousness that makes them so highly skilled is also the reason they may elect to take off to do their own thing.

The Canaan Dog has been around for a very long time, and the breed has adapted well to change as well as maintained a remarkable healthy profile and are believed to be one of the healthiest dog breeds on the planet. While they are dogs and they do have issues, they tend to be few and far between and on average, are below 2% with the incidence rate.

Below is a list that basically contains all the problems that can happen to Canaani:

• Epilepsy
• Hip dysplasia
• Cryptorchidism
• Hypothyroidism
• Luxating patella
• Elbow dysplasia
• Lymphosarcoma
• Degenerative Myelopathy
• Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD)
• Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA)

The typical lifespan for the Canaan Dog is 12 to 15 years.