Canaan Dog

History

Dogs nearly identical to the Canaan Dog were present in Syria over 9,000 years ago. According to oral tradition, when the Israelites were forced into diaspora, their dogs were left behind and reverted to the wild. Excavations in Israel uncovered the Ashkelon dog cemetery, the largest ancient animal cemetery known, containing 700 dog skeletons anatomically similar to the modern Canaan Dog. The cemetery dates to the Persian Empire period, and archaeologists suggest the dogs were considered sacred.

Free-ranging populations persisted in the Negev, where Bedouins used them for herding and guarding. In the 1930s, animal behaviorist Rudolphina Menzel discovered these dogs, captured a select group, tamed and trained them, and began breeding. She found them highly adaptable and easy to domesticate. Menzel launched a breeding program that supplied working dogs to the military, naming them Canaan Dogs.

In 1949, she established the Institute for Orientation and Mobility of the Blind, training Canaan Dogs as guide dogs. The Red Cross also used them for search and rescue. The Israel Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1953 using Menzel's standard. After her death in 1973, Shaar Hagai Kennels, run by Dvora Ben Shaul and Myrna Shiboleth, continued the program per her instructions.

Collection of wild Canaan Dogs in Israel has become very difficult because many were destroyed by the government in rabies control efforts. Urban expansion and interbreeding with pet dogs have reduced natural habitat and pure populations. Myrna Shiboleth regularly visits the Negev seeking good specimens among Bedouin camps to strengthen the gene pool.

Appearance

The Canaan Dog has a wild-type appearance, being a medium-sized, square-built dog with a wedge-shaped head and erect, low-set ears that have a broad base and rounded tips. The outer coat is dense, harsh, and straight, of short to medium length, with a close, profuse undercoat varying by season. Colors range from black to cream and all shades of brown and red, often with small white markings, or all white with color patches; spotting and white or black masks are permitted. In the first official standard, Menzel emphasized differences from the German Shepherd Dog: the Canaan Dog is square, with a short loin, highly erect forequarters, less angular hindquarters, a noble neck, a tail curled over the back when excited, and a short trot, along with differences in head and color.

Breed recognition

The Canaan Dog was first recognized by the Israel Kennel Club in 1953 and by the FCI in 1966, with the first standard written by Dr. Menzel. In 1986, the first Canaan Dogs were brought to Finland from Sha'ar Hagai Kennel in Israel. The breed is now recognized by all major kennel clubs worldwide and is bred in many countries, with breed clubs in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Finland, Germany, Israel, and France. The first Canaan Dogs arrived in Canada on May 16, 1970, from a kennel in Delaware.

The Canadian Canaan Club formed in 1972, with its first executive elected on March 15, 1973; the club has since dissolved. In the UK, the first Canaan Dog was brought from Lebanon in 1965, before recognition. The Kennel Club recognized the breed in December 1970, placing it in the Utility Group. The Canaan Dog Club of the United Kingdom held its inaugural meeting in May 1992, and numbers began growing in the UK after 1996, though it remains numerically small.

On September 7, 1965, Menzel sent four dogs to Ursula Berkowitz of Oxnard, California, the first in the United States. The Canaan Dog Club of America formed that year, maintaining stud book records. The breed entered the AKC Miscellaneous Class in June 1989 and joined the Herding Group in 1997. Its profile rose when John F. Kennedy Jr. purchased a Canaan Dog named Friday in 1995.

AKC Stud Book registration began June 1, 1997, and conformation competition started August 12, 1997. The United Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1992 as part of the Sighthound & Pariah Dog Group, with the Israel Canaan Dog Club of America as parent club. About 50 puppies are born each year.