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Canaan Dog breeders

The Canaan Dog is the national breed of Israel.

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Advertise your Canaan Dog puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed Canaan Dogs? List your kennel on caninebreeder.co.uk so people searching for Canaan Dog puppies for sale, or for a Canaan Dog stud dog in the UK, can find you. You can advertise Canaan Dog puppies for sale, post planned litters for your waiting list, offer a stud dog and show your hip and eye results. A basic listing shows your kennel name, location, website, social media and categories, and paid plans unlock more showcase features. Add your listing or see pricing.

No breeders are listed here yet, so the first profiles get the page to themselves.

  • Free basic profile: your breeder or company name, website, social media, location, breeds and industries.
  • Litters and stud dogs advertised in their own sections, never mixed with puppies for sale.
  • Premium showcase for your services and prices, previous customers, awards, video, gallery and health certificates, with your phone and email shown to buyers.
  • Sponsored articles about your breed or industry, written and published by our team.
  • Featured placement at the top of this page, labelled as sponsored.

Create your free breeder profile Advertise a litter Advertise a stud dog

Is it free to advertise here?

Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the Canaan Dog

The Canaan Dog is the national breed of Israel. The Royal Kennel Club traces it to the pariah dogs of the Middle East, and the British Canaan Dog Society's history of the breed notes that Bedouin and Druze people have long used free-living dogs of this type as guards without breeding them deliberately. Planned breeding began in the mid-1930s, when Professor Rudolphina Menzel selected local dogs as working dogs for the Haganah, the Jewish defence force in what was then Palestine, and named the type after the Land of Canaan. The RKC notes later use by the Israeli military as mine detectors and by the Red Cross. The Canaan Dog Club of the United Kingdom says the breed was recognised in England in 1970; the club itself was founded in 1992. The breed is in the Utility group and is still rare in the UK. Browse other Utility breeders or read about show dogs and rare breeds.

Size and build. A medium-sized, square, well-balanced and strongly built dog. The breed standard gives a height of 50–60 cm and a weight of 18–25 kg. The head is wedge-shaped, the ears are erect and set low, and the bushy tail curls over the back when the dog trots or is excited.

Coat and grooming. A harsh, straight outer coat of short to medium length covers a close undercoat that varies with the season. Colours run from sand to red-brown, white, black or spotted, with or without a symmetrical black mask, and white markings are allowed. The RKC suggests grooming once a week; the society recommends daily brushing during the moult to clear the dead undercoat.

Exercise. The RKC suggests up to an hour a day and says the breed can live in town or country, with a large house and a small to medium garden.

Temperament and suitability. The standard asks for an agile, alert and intelligent dog: confident and watchful, reserved with strangers, steady and loyal with its owners. The society's breed FAQ adds that Canaans bark to warn of anything unfamiliar, can be aggressive towards dogs of the same sex and are clever but independent, learning best in short, varied, reward-based sessions. It calls early socialisation essential. The breed suits owners who want an alert watchdog and will put time into socialising it. The RKC gives a lifespan of over 12 years.

Canaan Dog health tests

The Royal Kennel Club's health guidance for the Canaan Dog lists prioritising genetic diversity as good practice and, as best practice, adds eye testing under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme and hip scoring under the BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme. There is no breed-specific DNA test package, although individual DNA tests are available. The breed is in Breed Watch Category 1, so no breed-specific points of concern have been flagged for show judges.

The Canaan Dog Club of the United Kingdom regards the Canaan as a generally healthy breed with no known hereditary problems and says breeders are responsible for keeping it that way. It encourages hip scoring from 12 months: the club knows of no hip dysplasia in UK dogs, but some dogs have less favourable scores. It also recommends a vet check for patellar luxation, which has no official scheme and can be done on puppies at eight weeks, and eye testing for progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), noting that problems are unlikely to show before three years of age. The British Canaan Dog Society encourages the same three checks on all breeding dogs. Testing lowers the risk of inherited disease but cannot guarantee a healthy puppy. You can look up recorded results on the RKC Health Test Results Finder.

Choosing a Canaan Dog breeder

The Canaan Dog is rare, so expect to wait and possibly to travel. The British Canaan Dog Society advises visiting a breeder, meeting their adult dogs and talking the breed through in depth before you commit. A good breeder will show you hip scores and current eye certificates for both parents, which you can confirm on the RKC Health Test Results Finder, and can tell you whether the puppies' kneecaps have been checked by a vet. Because the breed is naturally wary of strangers, ask how the litter has been socialised with visitors, household noise and handling. The Canaan Dog Club of the United Kingdom code of ethics asks members to give written feeding details and ownership advice, hand over the Kennel Club registration documents, never sell to dealers or pet shops, describe the breed honestly and help rehome a dog if circumstances change. In England, anyone who breeds three or more litters in 12 months and sells any of the puppies, or runs a business breeding and advertising dogs, needs a council licence and must show the licence number in adverts. Read our buyer safety guide before paying a deposit.

  • Can I see hip scores and current eye certificates for both parents?
  • Have the puppies had their kneecaps checked by a vet?
  • What is the coefficient of inbreeding for this mating, and how does it compare with the breed average?
  • How have the puppies been socialised with strangers, children and other dogs?
  • Will you take the dog back at any age if I cannot keep it?

Canaan Dog questions

Is a Canaan Dog a good family dog?

It can be, for the right family. The breed standard describes a dog that is loyal to its owners but reserved with strangers. The British Canaan Dog Society says Canaans are usually tolerant, gentle and protective with children, but they are territorial, wary of anything new and can be aggressive towards dogs of the same sex. Early, thorough socialisation is essential, and the breed is not for everyone.

Do Canaan Dogs bark a lot?

They can. The British Canaan Dog Society describes them as watchdogs rather than attack dogs: they bark to warn you about anything unfamiliar and tend to keep their distance from intruders. With patience, most can be taught to stop barking when asked.

What health tests should Canaan Dog parents have?

The Royal Kennel Club lists hip scoring and eye testing under the BVA schemes as best practice and asks breeders to prioritise genetic diversity. The Canaan Dog Club of the United Kingdom also recommends a vet check of the kneecaps for patellar luxation. There is no breed-specific DNA test package, and the breed is in Breed Watch Category 1.

How much exercise and grooming does a Canaan Dog need?

The RKC suggests up to an hour of exercise a day and grooming once a week. The double coat sheds heavily at the moult, when the British Canaan Dog Society recommends brushing every day to clear the dead undercoat.

More for Canaan Dog owners and breeders

Official sources