Canaan Dog

Description:
Some breeders believe that this dog descended from the Spitz family while others believe that this breed originated from Palestine. The Canaan dog is a medium square dog and its height is around fifty to sixty centimeters from the wicher down and its weight varies anywhere from eighteen to twenty five kilograms. The head of this dog has the same shape of a Spitz and is triangular with a rounded skull and a slight stop. Its ears are pointed upwards and the base of these are wide and it tips are rounded and pointy. The neck of this dog is clean, well arched and has a medium size length. The front legs and superior line are straight. The hind legs are wide and its thighs are strong. The feet are rounded like those of a cat and the pads are hard. The tail of this dog is inserted high on the torso and hairy. The colors of these dogs oscillate from sandy, to brown, to reddish, or black or white with spots. The coat is thick, rough and has a medium size length. The hind legs are quite hairy and the males have a ridge.

Ideal owner:
The Canaan dog has an exceptional personality. In Israel this dog is praised for its versatility, intelligence and because of its size as well as for its abilities as a sheep dog, guard dog, guide dog, tracer, rescue dog, mine detector, and as a companion dog and it is qualified to compete with any dog. This dog's ability to detect deserves recognition; it can identify people from a great distance. Since it has a very loud bark it makes it a great candidate as a guard dog. Training this dog requires a lot of patience and time because this dog becomes bored easily and does not like doing things over again. The Canaan dog needs to keep its mind and feet active at all times. A lot of them are aggressive with other dogs and they will fight if they are not kept under control.

Growth:
A puppy Canaan dog is born with about 370 to 450 grams and it grows at a healthy normal rhythm. The weight of a puppy can vary considerably since an adult can weight from eighteen to twenty five kilograms. There are few breeds that can be compared with the Canaan dog due its naturalness. Its soft puppy coat becomes thicker at around six months of age. At adolescence this dog may become more mistrustful although most of them go through this phase without any major problems. Due to its nature this dog does not trust strangers. The puppies are very loud and vocal and they seem to have a talent for speaking different languages, they sing, Yiddish, etc. they need to be trained to not bark so much at a young age because otherwise it can turn into a problem. Its recommended to start training them at a young age.

General health:
This is one of the healthiest dogs on the face of the earth. It has a reputation of being the only dog that has grown without the intervention of man and this is what leads breeders to believe it will have hardly give any problems to its owners in the health department. Since this is a very natural dog it won't be very demanding with its owners. The appetite of this dog is moderate and they require hardly any brushing or bathing. They do need to get exercise but this need can be easily achieved. Like all double-coated dogs, it will shed twice a year. There have been some incidences of hip dysphasia and progressive retina atrophy however it is very uncommon. There have also been some cases of epilepsy. The life span of the Canaan dog is of fourteen to fifteen years and some have lived up to twenty years. They usually remain pretty active and content even at old age.