THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, November 2, 1919 27
The Israelis Re-Discover a 3,000-Year-Old Friend
By JERRY CHESLOW
World Zionist Organization
JERUSALEM — Israelis
are becoming reacquainted
with a good friend that was
left behind in the desert
when the Jews went into the
Diaspora nearly 2,000 years
ago. The cananite dog,
"Kelev cana'ani," which
probably-guarded the Is-
raelite flocks 3,000 years
ago, has been rediscovered
and rebred as the watch dog
most suited for special as-
signments.
"Unlike the German
Shepherd or the Doberman,
CANANITE DOG
which are personal dogs
that will guard you, your just might die of loneliness.
children or your house, the But the cananite, which has
cananite is a territorial survived for thousands of
animal," explains Esther years without man, in the
Simbling of the Sha'ar harshest desert weather
Hagai Kennels near conditions, does not mind
Jerusalem, the only place in the solitude. And his in-
the world where the cana- stincts make him a natural
nite is bred.
cable dog.
"If you put a shepherd dog
You put even an un-
on a cable out in the desert trained, six-month-old
without people around, he cananite puppy on a cable
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and he will tell himself,
`From this end of the cable
to the other is my territory.'
He will bark at, and perhaps
bite any stranger who in-
fringes."
Although it is possibly
one of the first breeds
domesticated by man, the
cananite remained a desert
pariah dog, or a semi-wild
dog that helped shepherd
the flocks of nomads, until
45 years ago. Then Dr.
Rudolphina Menzel, a pro-
fessor of animal behavior,
who had been asked to de-
velop a dog to guard distant
Jewish outposts in Pales-
tine, captured and bred 50
wild dogs.
What she came up with
was a squarebuilt,
medium-sized dog that
comes in shades of beige to
dark brown or black. It has
short, pointed ears, a
wedged shaped head and a
plumelike tail that curls
over its back when the dog
gets excited. It also has un-
usual eyes, as Esther Simbl-
ing pionts out, They look
like the eyes of a girl who
has put on too much mas-
cara, with their long, black
lashes."
Not only has Prof. Menzel
succeeded in rebreeding the
cananite, but she has also
had it recognized by the Is-
raeli kennel club, which has
accepted her standards for
"best of breed." It has also
been recognized by the
worldwide dog federation
Cynologique and has par-
ticipated in international
exhibitions. So far, it has
not been recognized by the
American kennel associa-
tions, but Mrs. Simbling
feels that this is only a mat-
ter of time.
The cananite has also
stimulated worldwide
interest and more than 500
of the dogs have already
been sold to people in the
U.S. and Europe. One of the
most famous owners is
Princess Grace of Monaco.
The Sha'aix Hagai Ken-
nels now has about 70 cana-
nite dogs, nearly all of them
third, fourth and fifth gen-
eration pedigrees. One of
the cananites, Ofir from the
house of Elron, is a second
generation Israeli cham--
pion. One of his half
brothers has been awarded
the title of "World Cham-
pion" in Denmark.
Israeli breeders are posit-
ive that the cananite is one
of the world's purest dog
strains. "The cananite was
the only dog that was able to
survive without man in the
Negev desert," Esther ex-
plains. "He was isolated
from other breeds and
therefore, he remained
'pure. Besides this, the
cananite bitch is peculiar in
that she will often refuse to
mate with any male dog
that is not a cananite.
"The purity of the line is
incredible when you con-
sider that some breeds have
histories of less than 200
Charity should be dis-
pensed with tact and
scrupulous discretion, in
order not to embarass the
recipient.
years. Take the Doberman,
for example. He was created
less than 100 years' ago,
when man mixed several
breeds to come up with the
type of dog he wanted."
The only dogs that are
mixed with pedigreed cana-
nites are other cananites
found in the desert. This is
because the line is still
being improved.
Wild puppies are trapped
and brought to Sha'ar
Hagai. At nine months,
they are graded as
adequate, good, very good,
or excellent. The very good
or excellent puppies are
bred to dogs with pedigrees
of at least three genera-
tions. And, if their puppies
come out looking like cana-
nites, the breeders assume
that the wild dog was also
pure.
"The relationship be-
tween the cananite and its
master is perhaps like the
relationships between man
and the first dogs he domes-
ticated," explains Esther.
"You feed me and I'll guard
your territory and let your
kids play with me. But don't
expect much more. The
cananite is not the kind of
dog that you can train to
fetch your slippers or the
newspaper.
"Although nearly every
cananite can clear a four
meter barrier (13 feet), he
will
not do it on command,
- .
especially if there is a way
to go around the obstacle. In
short, if you are looking for
a guard dog to watch over an
area, get a cananite. If you
want a salve, he's much too
independent for you."
IF3(
25 yeors
experience
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