In the Bible, the book of Exodus calls Canaan--ancient Palestine and Phoenicia from about 3,000 BCE--a good and spacious land, flowing with milk and honey. Flocks of sheep and goats prospered there, and where there are flocks, there are dogs. The dogs of these ancient Middle Eastern communities were known as Kelef Kanani, Hebrew words meaning Canaan Dog. It's likely that the Kelef Kanani differed little from his modern-day descendant, the Canaan Dog. Tomb drawings from Beni Hassan in Egypt, which date to 2200-2000 BCE, show dogs with smooth coats, prick ears, and bushy tails curling over their backs. No doubt they had the same alert, watchful, inquisitive expression that marks today's Canaan Dog, a breed that may well be a living portrait of early domesticated dogs.

The Middle Eastern herding dogs of the past kept their charges from straying, protected them from predators or thieves, and sounded the alarm when danger was near. But over the centuries, with the invasion of Roman conquerors and the dispersal of the land's inhabitants to the far corners of the earth, the Canaan Dog became unemployed. He retreated to the hilly desert of southern Israel, living a feral lifestyle that depended on his wits and fitness. Sometimes he continued in his nomadic life, earning a living with the Bedouin desert dwellers, or served as guards for the Druse, religious communities of hill people who made their home on Mount Carmel and other areas of what are now Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. Sculpted by this harsh lifestyle, the dog became a wily athlete, perfectly suited to his environment.

For centuries, the Canaan Dog continued his unfettered life in the desert, but in 1935, world events conspired to bring him back into the human community. Not only was World War II brewing, an independent Jewish state was in the offing. Isolated Jewish settlements in Palestine needed guard dogs that could withstand desert conditions, and the area's armed forces were looking for a desert-tough guard and patrol dog. Rudolphina Menzel, a professor of animal and comparative psychology at the University of Tel Aviv, was asked to develop a dog that would meet these needs. Her original plan was to work with established breeds, but in her mind's eye she kept picturing Canaan Dogs that she had seen in the desert. They had survival skills, and that was what was needed.

Dr. Menzel and her husband acquired several of the desert dogs and began breeding them, recording and refining their bloodlines. They trained their new breed for sentry work, land mine detection, and message delivery, and they were active with the Middle East Forces during World War II. After the war, some of the dogs took up second careers as guide dogs. By 1948, the Palestine Kennel Club had registered 150 of them.

In 1965, Ursula Berkowitz of Oxnard, California, imported four Canaan Dogs. The Canaan Dog Club of America was formed the same year. The United Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1992 and the American Kennel Club in 1997. The breed entered the national spotlight in 1998 when Ch. Catalina's Felix to the Max became the first Canaan Dog to compete in the Herding Group at the Westminster Kennel Club show. He's still a rare breed, ranking 150th among the 155 breeds and varieties registered by the AKC.

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