Heat

This summer I became a believer in global warming.  I have always preferred warm weather to cold, and for all the years I have been living in Israel, I never had trouble with the climate.  Yes, the summers were hot, very hot, but I never found it to be that difficult to cope with or to prevent functioning normally.

This year has been different.  I am sure that this summer is hotter than any summers for a long time.  What the statistics say I don’t know, but everyone I talk to about it agrees with me.

Of course, there is that tendency when talking about the weather to be sure that it is the hottest, or coldest, or worst storm in the last twenty years, or the most rain or the least rain – no one really goes to check the facts, we know what we are feeling, right?

I refuse to consider that with each year of growing older, maybe the weather is getting worse – for me… The weather really is worse!

The dogs agree with me – it is hot!  I find it very hard to do much of anything during the day. The dogs also spend most of their time lounging in a shady spot, unless there is a really strong reason for getting up.  The dogs start their activities at about four in the morning, while it is quite cool, and have their morning running and barking time, which ends at about 6:30 or seven.  By then it is already getting hot.  My schedule is quite similar, though not from four – five or five thirty is the start of my working hours.  The same is true in the evening – from about five or six it starts cooling off and that is play time, until nine or ten at night.

Although I am a morning person by nature, I can’t say that these hours are really my preference.  Couldn’t you guys wait until six?

But I can look out the window in midday, and although most of the dogs have found themselves cool spots in the shade, there are some that are lying out in the full sun, obviously enjoying it.

Habibi is not one of those.  Desert dog?  No way!  There is a cool house, air conditioning – his place is inside.  He goes out for necessities – one of his necessities is periodically to check if there is anything out there that has to be barked at – and then places himself on the top step leaning against the entrance door, just to make sure I don’t miss the fact that he is ready to come in.

I have been trying to use the air conditioning as little as possible – yes, for “green” reasons, but more because electricity is so expensive these days.  But with the weather of July and August, I have given in, and use it for a good part of the day.

Habibi knows exactly where the air currents go, and his sleeping spots are right in the line of the cool air.  If I change the angle of the fan, he will give me a pitying glance, lift his nose to test the air direction, and calmly move to a better spot.  He may be a bed dog most of the time, but at this time of year, he gets on the bed only when the air conditioner is on and is blowing a cool breeze across it.  He then sprawls across the bed to catch every bit of refreshing air across his whole body, leaving me struggling to find a place for my legs. 

I am counting the days until the end of summer…

Why a Dog?

When I was growing up, my family were not great animal lovers.  Though they appreciated the beauties of nature, nature belonged in the park and forest reserve and certainly not in the house.  So my unending desire for a dog was a strange and incomprehensible idea to them, and I never really managed to fulfill my desires while I was living at home.

But one of the first things I did when I left home and got my own place was to get a dog. And I have never since been without one, and usually it has been many.  Over the years I have discovered that I prefer spending most of my time with them, rather than with other people…

I don’t have anything against humans.  I am not one of these people who uses dogs as a substitute child or in place of a family. I have a family, a daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, and enjoy spending time with them. I brag about my grandchildren like any proud grandmother – to my surprise, as I never expected that I would be one of those!  But I always go home to my own quiet time with my dogs.

The dog is the only animal that, for whatever strange reasons he may have, chooses to be with us rather than with his own kind.  A dog will gladly leave playtime with his four footed friends to come inside with his people.  Considering how people often treat them, it is really amazing – dogs usually get much more respect from other dogs than they get from us.  We people use them as toys, as dolls, as substitute babies, as status symbols, and at times as a target for our frustrations, rages, instable and inhuman and inhumane behaviors.  And the dogs still choose to be with us!

They look up at us with adoration, even when we very well know that it is not deserved.  They are always ready to accompany us anywhere, and will conquer their justifiable fears of artifacts of the modern world to be with us.  They are never too tired to go for a walk, a ride, a visit, and are willing to give all that up in a flash if what we decide that we want is to sit in front of the television. 

I can tell my dogs anything.  They listen and they don’t criticize, or tell me that I could have done that better.  I can cry, and they don’t tell me to get a grip, they simply lick my tears.  When I am depressed, they clown, and their persistence pays off - eventually they do make me laugh.  They are never indifferent when I come home – it may have been no more than going to the neighbor’s for five minutes, but they are thrilled to see me come back.

I talk to Habibi and he always listens.  He usually has very intelligent and considered responses, and if he doesn’t, he has the sense to keep quiet.  But ignoring him is not an option – he is there, he is my companion in everything, and a wet nose or insistent paw are always there to remind me I am not alone.

The question is never “Why a dog?”, it is “Why on earth not a dog?!!”

A True Collie

Lida was the fulfillment of a life long dream for her loving and devoted owner Harry.

She was one of three puppies in a carefully planned litter.  Her mother was a bitch I had imported from Brazil and her father was imported from the US, both from outstanding bloodlines noted both for beauty and excellent temperament. As one of the major goals of my breeding program was to produce dogs that could become working service dogs, these characteristics are as important to me as show wins.  Lida’s two sisters indeed did go on to become service dogs, one working with an epileptic child and the other with an autistic child.

Lida was the most beautiful, and I thought about keeping her. But after Harry got in touch with me and I got to know him, even if only through correspondence and mutual friends in Greece, where he lives, I knew that Lida couldn’t have a better home than with him.  He had always wanted a pedigreed collie, and now finally had the possibility, and I could make his dream come true.

Lida had to stay with me until she was seven months old, due to the regulations for importing dogs into EU countries from Israel, and it was really hard to part with her.  But Harry welcomed her with an open heart, and she quickly adjusted and returned his love.

Harry lives in Athens, and Lida learned to live as a city dog.  She was a favorite of friends and family, and also had a successful show career, becoming a Greek champion.  The only problem she had in the show ring was enthusiasm – she was so happy to prance around, meet people, and show off, that she often carried her tail quite high and always in motion.  But despite her happy tail, she had a string of wins and excellent critiques.

I visited them in Greece, and saw first hand how much they loved each other, and what a lovely person Harry is. I was really happy with my decision to let him have this happy girl.

Motherhood was another successful experience for her, she produced a lovely litter of puppies, and the most beautiful daughter stayed with Harry.

Harry’s mother, quite elderly and frail, was living alone in a village outside of Athens.  She dearly loved Lida and the affection was mutual.  Harry had Lida’s daughter at home also, so decided that it would be great for both his mother and Lida if she had a country vacation.  Lida could give Mrs. L. companionship and she would have a nice yard to play in, rather than the busy Athens streets.  The arrangement worked out really well; although Lida was happy to see Harry on his frequent visits, she was very bonded to Mrs. L. and very satisfied with country life.

Greece is a country with many problems these days, and the rising crime rate is one of them. One of the reasons that Mrs. L. was so pleased to have Lida with her was for the additional security that having a dog provided.  Lida was a very perceptive dog, and instinctively knew who were welcome guests, and who needed to be barked at and not allowed to enter the yard.  There were a number of situations where Lida stood in front of Mrs. L. at the front gate and wouldn’t allow suspicious strangers to come any closer.

And then one day a month or so ago, I received the tragic news – Lida was dead.  Robbers had broken into Mrs. L’s little house and Lida had attacked them to protect her beloved partner, and was beaten to death.  As Lida lay dying, Mrs. L. was beaten and dragged across the floor, her purse and money were stolen, and she was left lying bleeding on the floor.

The cruelty is still impossible to comprehend.  Harry is heartbroken and his mother feels that she has lost a true member of the family, another being that she loved like a child, and that lost her life defending her.

There are no more words to describe this.  Lida was six years old when she died.

This is the story of a true collie.

Addition:  We have been notified that Lida has been honred posthumously by the Collie Club of America for her bravery and devotion, with the Shining Star award.  It is a great honor and also a comfort to us all.



Crossing the Jordan

Dogs don’t really care very much about borders.

I have been asked, many times, if the Canaan is really an Israeli dog, found exclusively within our borders.  The truth is that free living dogs of this type are found throughout the middle east – the borders have changed many, many times through the centuries, but the dogs have always been there.  What is true is that, although there are dogs of this type in various places, there has been absolutely no interest anywhere in the middle east other than in Israel in preserving these dogs and developing them as a breed, keeping records and pedigrees, and all the other “bureaucracy” that our world requires these days to present a dog as a purebred.  So the Canaan is indeed Israeli, and almost all the foundation stock and the dogs that have subsequently been introduced into the gene pool have been born in Israel.

This does not mean that we are averse to Canaans that may come from across one border or another.  One of our very first dogs was a tiny puppy that was brought across the border from Petra in Jordan, who became known as Sufa me Petra, one of the foundation bitches of the modern breed.  I have seen photos of lovely Canaan type dogs in Egypt, in Jordan, in Syria, in Lebanon.  However, politics dictates that there is a border in between.

So I was thrilled when I was able to get in touch with a fellow in Jordan who had two young Canaans that needed a home.

As ever, in our modern times, the internet was the way we got in touch.  The story was that these two youngsters had been raised in a village and were intended to be guard dogs. For a reason unknown to us at this point, the owner decided he didn’t want the pups anymore (about four or five months old), and he brought them to a veterinarian in Amman to be put to sleep.  The vet, obviously in the profession because of his love for animals, refused to put two strong healthy pups to death and took it upon himself to look for someone to adopt them.  Mat, an American living and working in Amman, saw the notice by the vet, and decided to take the dogs temporarily to find them homes.  He was unable to keep them permanently, as he had a 13 year old pet dog that would in a few months be coming to Amman with his wife, and wouldn’t be able to live with two young active pups.

The vet told Mat that the dogs were Canaans.  Mat is a dog lover but not an expert in breeds, and would never have thought that they were anything but mixed breed street dogs.  I have great admiration for this veterinarian, who does not have much chance to see a wide variety of dog breeds, and to identify the two as Canaans was exceptional.

Mat’s wife, in the US, put up some posts on the internet to try and find someone to adopt the dogs, and her post was forwarded to me by a friend in the US.  I immediately got in touch.

The photos Mat sent me were not very good. We talked on Skype and he tried to get the dogs to stand up and let me see them, but they were not particularly interested.  But from the bit I did see, and from his description of them and their behavior, they definitely seemed to be Canaans.  I told Mat that if we could get them to Israel, I would certainly take them and either keep them here or find good homes for them.  Homing them here would certainly have a much higher possibility of success than in Jordan, where there was little interest in keeping dogs as pets.

Crossing the border is not a simple affair, and certainly not with dogs.  After some discussion, Mat volunteered to take care of all the necessary vaccinations and paperwork, and to take a day off work and drive them to Israel.

Although mentally the distance between Israel and Jordan may seem huge, in fact it is only about a two hour drive to the border crossing, and another two hours or so from the border to my place.  Mat planned to get to the border at 8 a.m., so that he could get here early and then drive back – he had to be at work the next day.  He would call me when he was at the border.

8 a.m. came and went, and another hour passed, and then another…I was getting very worried.  What if they wouldn’t let him bring the dogs in?  Who knew what problems could occur?  But finally he called.  He had crossed through the Jordanian checkpoint – it had taken over two hours, not because of the dogs, but because of the long line waiting (even at 8 a.m.!) and the paperwork, and now he was waiting to go through the Israeli checkpoint.  Hopefully, this would go more quickly.  He would call me when he was through and on the road to my place, so that I could also explain how to get here.

Another few hours passed, and no call.  I tried to call his cell phone and got no answer.  My friend Eytan, who was very interested in the Canaans and had come also to meet Mat and see the dogs, and I were again getting very stressed – it was already mid afternoon.

The dog alarm system activated, telling me with their barking that a stranger was here.  And there was Mat!  His cell phone, a Jordanian number, had stopped working as soon as he crossed the border….wonder why….so he couldn’t call, and he just drove straight here.  Obviously aside from initiative, he has great navigation skills…

He was surprised at the attitude of the Israeli border guards, though.  He said that when he went through the Jordanian checkpost, no one was in the least interested in the dogs.  On the Israeli side, everyone came over to pet them and ask about them.  Wow, he said, Israelis do love dogs!

And here were the dogs!  Love at first sight!  They are indeed Canaans, and lovely ones.  Their ears are still only half up, but they are only about seven or eight months old, and otherwise they are beautiful.  And super temperaments!  The two, called Jenny and Jimmy by Mat, walked into this strange place, with dogs all around barking at them, with complete self confidence, tails up, and joyful to meet new people, outgoing and sure of themselves.  And after a few minutes, they decided that the yard where we were standing was their territory and they began to guard it from a neighbor who passed by. 

Jenny and Jimmy have settled in very well, accepting their new home with no problems, following me around and demanding attention as if born here, and starting to meet the other dogs.  Their yard has become their territory, and the other Canaans, after looking them over, have admitted them to the “canaan society” – they obviously speak the right language.

These two dogs can prove to be an incredibly valuable addition to the gene pool of the Canaans, as they come from an area that we have never had access to.  And aside from that, they are lovely dogs, and it is a pleasure to have them here.

And we have a new friend – Mat had to drive back almost immediately, but will come to visit in Israel again when his wife arrives.  He has learned about the Canaans and become fascinated by them – as do so many when they get to know the breed.  So he may become “our man in Amman” and maybe we will have the chance to get more dogs from across the Jordan.

Borders don’t matter to dogs.

Exploring their new territory

The Thing Without Wings

Kerri is the daughter of Lilo and Habibi and, as you can imagine, the combination has resulted in a very “Canaan” personality.  Her registered name is “Kerach Dak” which means “thin ice”.  People have asked me why – well, Kerri is always on the edge – from a small puppy, she was the first one forward, the first one to notice things, to react, very active, very fast – in short - pay attention, thin ice!

A few weeks ago, Kerri went to her first dog show.  She was out with me quite a lot as a puppy, going with me to work and meeting many people, but as she got a bit older, I was very busy and had to devote more time to some of the other dogs, so she stayed home.  A pretty girl, I decided that at 16 months of age, the time had come for her to start her career.  So I entered her in our club show.

The show was held indoors in a small hall – although dog shows in Israel are very often held outdoors, at this time of year the weather is very chancy.  This was a completely new place and new experience for Kerri, and I really wasn’t sure how she would behave. 

The Canaans were scheduled to be judged last, but I got there quite early, so that Kerri would have a chance to look around, get used to the new place, and meet all the new people.  Rather to my surprise, as the Canaans are typically a bit suspicious about new things, she was thrilled to be out and about, and all the new people meant lots of attention and petting.  She proved to be as expert as her father in manipulating everyone who came in reach to pet her, with nose nudges, climbing on laps, and sweet expression.  Wow, this dog show thing was fun!

Finally our turn came to enter the ring.  Kerri behaved like a pro, gaiting nicely next to me, happily letting the judge examine her, standing nicely as he wrote his report.  I was feeling very relaxed and very, very pleased with her.

Then, in a fraction of a second, she was gone.  She had jerked the leash out of my hand and all I could see was a silver streak heading for her crate and the friends who were sitting with us.

I quickly ran over and brought her back in the ring.  But now she was crouching, uncomfortable, suspicious, unhappy – what had happened?  Something had affected her, a dog does not behave like this without a reason, but I couldn’t imagine what – I had not felt or noticed anything!

I asked the ring steward if there had been any sudden noise, if something had fallen over – no, there was nothing.  And Kerri was still telling me that there was danger here….

And then I looked at her carefully and saw where she was looking. She was looking up.  And when I looked up, I realized what had happened.  The hall was quite high ceilinged, at least four meters high. Suspended on wires from the ceiling were some small, round advertising signs.  Apparently, there had been a random gust of wind, and the signs started to rotate.  Kerri spotted these dangerous things without wings over her head, moving around in a suspicious manner, and decided that discretion was the better part of valor and took off for a place that she knew was safe – her crate!

The judge, a very experienced dog man from Poland, was very kind and quite amused.  He told me that there were three breeds that were aware of everything going on around them, over their heads as well as on ground level – the Saarloos wolf dog, the Czechoslovakian wolf dog, and the Canaan. It’s okay, he told me, this is normal behavior. 

So Kerri after all got her class first place.  She returned to her safe place and to all the admiring friends, to get some more petting before we left for home, very happy to leave the place of the things without wings over her head.



Kerri and friends at the show



Enthusiasm

Briza, like all Canaans, is an excellent and devoted mother. But while some are very worried and protective, Briza, even in the first days after her puppies are born, is quite happy to leave them for a few minutes, to go out and relax, and get a bit of fresh air and sunshine.  That is not to say that she is not vigilant – she is completely aware of what is going on and whether anyone not approved might be getting close to her family.  But she remains relaxed and calm unless there is really a reason to react.

So two and a half weeks after her current puppies were born, when I observed that she was lying with them constantly and not leaving them, I knew that something was not quite right.

On examination, I found that indeed there was a problem.  Several of her nipples were swollen and hard.  She had obviously developed some sort of infection in a few of her breasts.  This was a very unusual situation; the Canaans are very healthy dogs and I had never had this with any other bitch.

She of course was examined by the vet and started on a course of treatment.  The puppies seemed to be fine.  They were plump and content, not crying and not seeming to be lacking in anything, and she was caring for them with typical Canaan devotion.  This in itself amazed me. I am sure that the condition must have been very unpleasant to her, if not downright painful.  In any other breed, I would not have been surprised for the bitch to abandon the puppies, not wanting to be touched, and certainly not allowing them to suckle.  But Briza, on the other hand, did not want to move from her puppies and let them climb all over her and suckle to their hearts’ content.

However, I was worried that she might not have enough milk, and that the puppies’ demands would be hard on her.  So I decided to give the puppies some supplemental feeding.  At the age of two and a half weeks, they were certainly old enough to get some additional food.

I decided to prepare bottles with milk substitute to give them extra feeds a few times a day.  To start with, the puppies made faces and tried to spit the nipple out when I put it in their mouths.  “This isn’t the real thing!”, they seemed to be saying.  “We know what real milk tastes like!”  But most of them within minutes learned that this was food, and grabbed hold of the nipple and SUCKED!  After a few feeds, they were sucking so hard that they could have been lifted into the air and left dangling there, held up by the strength of their nursing. Not that I tried it, of course, but when on occasion they grabbed my finger by mistake, I could certainly feel the power!

Two of the six puppies, however, were very stubborn.  They were sure that this was not real food, and it took them about two days to decide that they really could drink this stuff.  They were plump and full, and obviously were indeed getting fed by Mom. So why bother with something strange? But finally they agreed to take a taste and then also grabbed on and took advantage of the offer of additional food.

There was no point when the puppies seemed to be hungry or not getting food from Briza – she cared for them all the time, and they were very plump and happy.  But if they were being offered an extra treat – well, why not?  I actually, at times, started to wonder if a puppy could explode from eating too much….

For these puppies, I had now become a second mommy.  They just had to hear me coming and their noses were in the air, all of them screaming, “Me, me, me!!!!”, as they stretched up to my hands to be picked up and fed.  They were aware of my approach from a distance and scrabbled over one another to try to be the first in line for the bottle.

Three weeks of age is when I usually start offering puppies additional meals, usually special early age puppy kibble moistened to make it soft.  So now was the time to start the transition from supplemental milk feeds to real food.

Canaan pups never have a problem in starting to eat.  The collie puppies sometimes are very hesitant, and it can take them a few days to get accustomed to the idea that this stuff is food and it is supposed to be eaten and not spread around the nest.  But with Canaans, you can immediately see those little noses start to work and they usually dive right into the dish and start to slurp it up.

With most of Briza’s puppies, this was the case – I offered them a dish of food, and they quickly realized that this was good eating.  But there were two that refused. They kept following my hand around, with their noses in the air, and tried to climb up my legs.  “We know you bring milk!  Where is it???? We want the milk!!!!!” was the attitude.

Canaans can be very stubborn in trying to get what they want.  Although I knew, by now, that Briza, herself totally recovered and full of energy again, was feeding her puppies very well, I still felt that I might as well go on giving a supplement, just to be sure…So when these puppies, one cream male and one red female, decided to refuse to eat, they won – I fed them their bottle.

Finally, after a few days, I decided that they were not going to beat me, and I refused to give them the bottle.  It took them one missed feed, watching the other puppies guzzling down the food with enormous enthusiasm, and finding that I was ignoring their nose in the air demands for milk, to decide to join in and eat.  And of course, when they started to eat, it was with the typical enthusiasm.

Even drinking water warrants enthusiasm.  When I put in a water dish the first time, they almost climbed in it, and drank and drank and drank… Obviously, anything I was about to offer, was something to get excited about.

The puppies are now five weeks old, and getting several feeds a day of kibble.  I don’t think I have ever had puppies that are so very enthusiastic about eating.  They seem to be as wide as they are long, and don’t stop until they have cleaned the dish.  Briza, who would have enthusiastically cleaned up any leftovers, is left with her own portion, which she says is less tasty…

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........

Aggression is one of the catchwords of our modern world.  I have, over the last years, had a lot of questions on the subject of aggression in dogs.

In centuries gone by, people didn’t worry about being called aggressive.  They did what they had to in order to protect their loved ones and their property, and that could mean the necessity for aggression in greater or lesser degree.  It was not that they preferred to behave that way, but that was one of the necessities of life and survival.

In our modern world, we have developed other and, we hope, more effective ways of dealing with our problems than blatant aggression – or perhaps we have learned to disguise our aggressions behind a camouflage of manners and proper behavior and legal systems and such.  We teach our children that aggression is not the solution and that they should not beat up the other kids in their class.

We also expect that our dogs should behave and never be aggressive.  But we neglect to consider a number of factors – aggressive behavior is part of the language of the dog, they don’t have words to express these things.  This behavior  can look extremely aggressive to those of us who don’t really understand, but in fact it is communication.  Dogs are equipped by nature with tools that are meant to support this behavior.   Although we educate our children how to behave in ways that will allow them to communicate effectively and circumvent the necessity of aggression, we often don’t do the same for our dogs.

There are many different breeds of dog in the world, a very great percentage of them being dogs that we have created, through selective breeding over a period of, in some cases, even thousands of years, to suit our way of life.  They were bred to perform a wide variety of tasks, which required a wide variety of behaviors.

My collies, who were originally bred to be sheep dogs, to be gentle with the lambs and kind in their work, and that never had to be aggressive in protection of the flock, since they developed in an area where there were no large and vicious predators, are not aggressive.  They are outgoing, friendly, playful, and nurturing to people and to other animals, and for them meeting another dog means a possibility of a new friend and a lovely romp.  I would never breed from a collie that was aggressive, as this is completely opposed to what the breed is supposed to be.

The Canaans, however, are different.  I myself have learned a great deal over the years that I have lived with them, and one of my conclusions is that first of all, we must stop calling them “wild” dogs.  Dogs by definition are not wild animals.  There are no dogs that are wild, all dogs, even dingoes, which are the most shy and difficult to keep as pets, have a natural tendency and connection that draws them to the vicinity of man and makes it possible to easily build up a mutual relationship.  Having had a number of dogs, over the years, that were brought to me as totally “wild” adults, I can testify to their immediate interest and willingness to relate to me.  The Canaans can more accurately be called feral, free living or pariah dogs, but they are dogs, not wild animals.

Wild animals also are not indiscriminately aggressive. Aggression can be very dangerous and can result in injury, also to the aggressor, and therefore damage the possibilities of survival. 

Dogs that  are free living have to use aggression to survive, to protect themselves, their pack mates, their territory and their resources.  The amount of aggression used is the amount that is necessary to achieve the necessary goals, and in most cases it is much more a show than actual aggression.  It is communication – we may threaten someone verbally, shout, gesticulate, without doing more, and a dog may threaten with facial expression, bared teeth, body posture, growling and snarling, and never more than that.  The understanding is there.

There are many different kinds of aggression – territorial, resource guarding, protection of puppies, position in the hierarchy, sexual competition, and so on.  The levels of aggression and causes can be widely varied, but the language is the same.

In Canaans, this language is very well developed and full of many subtleties that we are not even aware of, but it is definitely part of the breed character and is used to the degree that the dogs feel necessary and appropriate to the situation.

We humans are probably one of the most aggressive species in existence.  But we teach our children from a very young age that these impulses must be controlled and that there are alternatives that are just as effective and even more so than the use of violence.  Our dogs, when raised and educated properly, and when related to correctly, also can learn very effectively to control aggressive impulses and to use alternative behaviors. 

However, we must always consider the breed and the background of the dog, and never be complacent, with the idea that every pet must be sweet and passive under all circumstances.

Out of the many different breeds available to us, if you want a dog that is soft, sweet and never aggressive under any circumstances, you have a wide choice of breeds that are like that.  Why on earth should you choose a Canaan and then try to make him something he isn’t?