Canaan

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Canaan – General Description

The Canaan dog, known in Israel as (Hebrew: כלב כנעני‎, Kelev Kna’ani, lit. “Canaanite dog”) and other Levantine countries as (كلب كنعان: Kaleb Kana’an) is a breed of pariah dog recognized as Israel’s national breed. It may have existed in the eastern Mediterranean seaboard for millennia, as referenced in ancient carvings and drawings. There are 2,000 to 3,000 Canaan dogs across the world, mostly in Europe and North America.[1]

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Classification and standards

• FCI Group 5, Section 6, #273
• AKC Herding
• ANKC Group 7 (Nonsporting)
• CKC Group 3 – Working Dogs
• KC (UK) Utility
• NZKC Nonsporting
• UKC Sighthound & Pariah

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Character & Temperament

Canaan dogs have a strong survival instinct. They are quick to react and wary of strangers, and will alert to any disturbances with prompt barking, thus making them excellent watchdogs. Though defensive, they are not aggressive and are very good with children within the family, but may be wary of other children or defensive when your child is playing with another child. They are intelligent and learn quickly, but may get bored with repetitive exercises or ignore commands if they find something of more interest, like destruction to the house.

Activities

Canaan Dogs can compete in dog agility trials, obedience, showmanship, flyball, tracking, and herding events. Herding instincts and trainability can be measured at noncompetitive herding tests. Canaans exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials.[3]

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History

The Canaan dog began in ancient times as a mongrel in ancient Canaan, where the Canaanites lived, roughly corresponding to the region encompassing modern-day Israel, Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan.

This dog is one of the oldest, dating back to biblical times. The caves of Einan and Hayonim are sites in which the oldest remains of dogs have been found (more than 10,000 years ago). In the Bible there are a number of references to roaming dogs and dogs that worked for man.[4]

In the Sinai Desert, a rock carving, from the first to third century AD, depicts a dog that in size and shape appears to be a Canaan type dog.

In Ashkelon, a graveyard was discovered, believed to be Phoenician from the middle of the fifth century BC. It contained 700 dogs, all carefully buried in the same position, on their sides with legs flexed and tail tucked in around the hind legs. According to the archaeologists, there was a strong similarity between these dogs and the “Bedouin mongrels,” or the Canaan dog. A sarcophagus dated from the end of the fourth century BC, was found in Sidon lebanon, on which Alexander the Great and the King of Sidon are painted hunting a lion with a hunting dog similar in build to the dogs of Ashkelon, and similar in appearance to the Canaan dog.[5]

They survived this way until the 1930s, when Menzel came up with the idea to use these intelligent scavenger dogs mainly found in the desert, as guard dogs for the scattered Jewish settlements. Menzel was asked by the Haganah to help them build up a service dog organization (later to become Unit Oketz). She captured and acquired wild and semi-wild Canaan dogs. She worked with semi-free and free-living dogs of a specific type, luring them into her camp and gaining their trust. She also captured litters of puppies, finding them remarkably adaptable to domestication. The first successful adult she called Dugma (meaning example). Dr. Menzel found the dogs highly adaptable, trainable, and easy to domesticate. It took her about six months to capture Dugma, and within a few weeks she was able to take him into town and on buses.

She began a breeding program in 1934, providing working dogs for the military and she gave pups to be pets and home guard dogs. She initiated a selective breeding program to produce the breed known today as the Canaan dog.

In 1949 Menzel founded The Institute for Orientation and Mobility of the Blind, and in 1953, she started to train Canaan dogs as guide dogs for the blind. Although she was able to train several dogs, she found that the breed was too independent and too small for general guide dog use, although some of her dogs were used successfully by children.

Her breeding program was concentrated with the Institute, where a foundation of kennel-raised Canaan dogs was established, carrying the name “B’nei Habitachon”. She later supplied breeding stock to Shaar Hagai Kennels which continued in the breeding of the Canaan dog. After her death in 1973, Shaar Hagai Kennels continued the breeding program according to her instructions. In addition, a controlled collection of dogs of the original type was continued, primarily from the Bedouin of the Negev.

Collection of wild Canaan dogs has all but ceased. The last two dogs that were collected in the Negev in the mid-1990s, and most of the Canaan dogs living in the open were destroyed by the Israeli government in the fight against rabies. Even the majority of Bedouin dogs today are mixed with other breeds,[6] although Myrna Shiboleth visits the Negev annually, looking for good specimens living by the Bedouin camps, that she can breed with her dogs and strengthen the gene pool.

Breed Recognition

The Canaan dog was first recognized by the Israel Kennel Club in 1953 and by the FCI (Federation Cynologique Internationale) in 1966. The first accepted standard was written by Dr. Menzel.

The Kennel Club in the United Kingdom officially recognized the breed in December 1970.

In 1986, the first Canaan dogs were brought to Finland from Sha’ar Hagai Kennel, in Israel.

Canaan Dogs in the U.S.

On September 7, 1965, Menzel sent four dogs to Ursula Berkowitz of Oxnard, California, the first Canaan dogs 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. In June 1989, the Canaan dog entered the American Kennel Club Miscellaneous Class. Its profile was raised when John F. Kennedy Jr. purchased a Canaan dog in the 1990s.[1] Canaan dogs were registered in the AKC Stud Book as of June 1, 1997. The dogs began competing in conformation on August 12, 1997.

Canaan Dogs in Canada

The first Canaan dog came to Canada May 16, 1970. The dogs came from a kennel in Delaware.

The Canadian Canaan Club (CCC) was formed in 1972, and the first executive of the Club was elected on March 15, 1973. The club has since been dissolved.

The Canaan dog obtained entry into the Miscellaneous Class of the Canadian Kennel Club on December 1, 1975. In January 1993, the breed was accepted in the Working Group, as the Canadian Kennel Club did not have a Herding group at that time.

Canaan Dogs in the UK

The first Canaan Dog, a female was brought into the UK from Damascus. It spent May–October 1965 in quarantine before it could brought to the home of its owner. The dog was found to be rather aggressive with other dogs, but good with people, especially children. Sometime around 1968, a male Canaan dog was brought to the UK to be bred with the female. The adults and puppies were recognized by The Kennel Club in December 1970 and was placed in the Utility Group.

It wasn’t until May 1992 that the inaugural meeting of the Canaan Dog Club of the United Kingdom took place. It has only been since 1996 that the breed has really begun to grow in numbers in the UK, though it is still quite numerically small. However, the quality is there and a good foundation is being laid for future generations.

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Size & Appearance

The Canaan dog, known in Israel as (Hebrew: כלב כנעני‎‎, lit. Canaanite dog, Kelev Kna’ani), is a typical pariah dog in appearance. They are a medium-sized dog, with a wedge-shaped head, medium-sized, erect and low set ears with a broad base and rounded tips. Their outer coat is dense, harsh and straight of short to medium-length. The undercoat should be close and profuse according to season. Color ranges from black to cream and all shades of brown and red between, usually with small white markings, or all white with color patches. Spotting of all kinds is permitted, as well as white or black masks.

Dr. Rudolphina Menzel, having studied the desert pariah dogs and the variations in appearances, classified these canines into four types: 1) heavy, sheepdog appearance, 2) dingo-like appearance, 3) Border Collie appearance, 4) Greyhound appearance.

Dr. Menzel concluded that the Canaan dog is a derivative of the Type III pariah dog—the collie type (referring to the type of farm collie found in the 1930s, which was a medium dog of moderate head type more similar to today’s border collie, not the modern rough coated collie).

In writing the first official standard for the Canaan dog, Dr. Rudolphina Menzel wrote: “Special importance must be placed on the points that differentiate the Canaan-dog from the German Shepard [sic] dog, whose highly bred form he sometimes resembles: the Canaan-dog is square, the loin region short, the forequarters highly erect, the hindquarters less angulated, the neck as noble as possible, the tail curled over the back when excited, the trot is short (see also differences in head and color)”[2].

Type varies somewhat between the lines of other Canaan dogs and those found in Israel and the rest of the world.

Males

• Height: 20–24 inches (50–60 cm)
• Weight: 40–55 pounds (18–25 kg)

Females

• Height: 18–20 inches (45–50 cm)
• Weight: 35–42 pounds

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Health & Maintenance

In general, the Canaan dog does not suffer from known hereditary problems.

Although the breed is one of the healthiest, Dr. George A. Padgett, DVM, listed diseases that have been seen, at one time or another, in the Canaan dog: hypothyroidism, epilepsy, progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), cryptorchidism, hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, luxating patella, and osteochondritis dissecans (OCD).

References

1. Brulliard, Nicolas (March 28, 2012). “In Israel, a battle to save the ancient Canaan dog”. The Washington Post. – http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-israel-a-battle-to-save-the-ancient-canaan-dog/2012/03/21/gIQA1IQEfS_story.html
2. 1960 – Israel Kennel Club – http://www.thecanaandog.co.uk/details/1960—israel-kennel-club-225.html
3. Hartnagle-Taylor and Taylor, Jeanne Joy, Ty (2010). Stockdog Savvy. Alpine Publications. ISBN #978-157779-106-5.
4. Report on the Canaan dog by Israel Nature Reserves and National Parks Authority – http://www.cdca.org/inrnpa.html
5. Where does the Canaan Dog come from? – http://www.babrees.co.uk/faq.htm
6. Report on the Canaan Dog by Israel Nature Reserves and National Parks Authority – http://www.cdca.org/inrnpa.html

• The Israel Canaan Dog (2nd edition, paperback), by Myrna Shiboleth (Alpine Publications: 1996) ISBN 0931866715
• Pariahunde – Pariah Dogs, by Rudolf Menzel & Rudolphina Menzel, translated by Bryna Comsky
• Canaan Dog (Kennel Club Dog Breed Series, Special Rare-breed Edition), by Joy Levine (Kennel Club Books, 2003), ISBN 1-59378-349-3
• Canaan Dog (Complete Handbook), by Lee Boyd and Victor Kaftal (Tfh Publications, 1995), ISBN 0-7938-0800-6
• Control of Canine Genetic Diseases, by Dr. George A. Padgett, DVM (Howell Book House, 1998), ISBN 0-87605-004-6

Photo Credits

1. Matilda (http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Chancoszion.jpg) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
2. Samorodokhanaana Canaan Dogs from “Samorodok” http://www.ruscanaan.ru (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
3. Canaan Dog, Hodowla Samorodok Hanaana http://www.ruscanaan.ru (Alexandra Baranova) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
4. Pardoy at he.wikipedia [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], from Wikimedia Commons
5. Yigal Parado [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
6. Arikk (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
7. M. Taube [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

This article is licensed (except where noted) under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article Canaan Dog

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Breed Standard

Canaan

FCI-Standard N°273 / 16. 06. 1999 / GB

ORIGIN : Israel.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 28.11.1985.

UTILIZATION :

Watch- and security Dog.

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. :

• Group 5 Spitz and primitive type.
• Section 6 Primitive type.

Without working trial.

GENERAL APPEARANCE :

A medium sized, well balanced, strong and square dog resembling the wild dog type. Strong distinction between the sexes.

BEHAVIOR /TEMPERAMENT :

Alert, quick to react, distrustful of strangers, strongly defensive but not naturally aggressive. Vigilant not only against man but other animals as well. Extraordinarily devoted and amenable to training.

HEAD :

Well proportioned, blunt wedge shape of medium length, appearing broader due to low set ears.

CRANIAL REGION :

Skull : Somewhat flattened. Some width allowed in powerful male heads.
Stop : Shallow but defined.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : Black.
Muzzle : Sturdy, of moderate length and breadth.
Lips : Tight.
Jaws / Teeth : Jaws should be strong. Full dentition with scissor or level bite.
Eyes : Dark brown, slightly slanted, almond-shaped. Dark rims essential.
Ears : Erect, relatively short and broad, slightly rounded at the tip and set low.

NECK :

Muscular, of medium length.

BODY :

Square.
Withers : Well developed.
Back : Level.
Loins : Muscular.
Chest : Deep and of moderate breadth. Ribs well sprung.
Belly : Well tucked up.

TAIL :

Set high, thick brush carried curled over the back.

LIMBS :

Moderate angulations. Balance is essential.

FOREQUARTERS :

Forelegs perfectly straight.
Shoulders : Oblique and muscular.
Elbows : Close to the body.

HINDQUARTERS :

Powerful.
Thighs : Strong, lightly feathered at the rearside.
Stifles : Well bent.
Hocks : Well let down.

FEET :

Strong, round and cat-like with hard pads.

GAIT/MOVEMENT :

Quick, light and energetic trot. Should demonstrate marked agility and stamina. Correct movement is essential.

COAT

HAIR :

Outer coat dense, harsh and straight, of short to medium length. Undercoat close and profuse.

COLOR :

Sand to red-brown, white, black, or spotted, with or without mask. If masked, mask must be symmetrical. Black mask permitted on all colors. White markings are permitted on all colors : « Boston Terrier » patterns are common. Grey, brindle, black-and-tan, or tricolor are unacceptable. Desert colors-sand, gold, red, cream- are most typical of the breed.

SIZE AND WEIGHT :

Size : Height at withers : 50-60 cm.
Males can be considerably larger than females.
Weight : 18-25 kg.

FAULTS :

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioral abnormalities shall be disqualified.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

© Fédération Cynologique Internationale