Building the Bloodlines 

Mrs. Bertha V. Sheaffer and the late Mr. Jay C. Sheaffer were among the first to import Canaan Dogs from Dr. Menzel in  Israel.  Their Spatterdash Dalmatian Kennel had become nationally known before Jay became an AKC licensed judge of Working, Non-Sporting and Terrier Groups.  (Working Group included the herding breeds before 1983).  The Sheaffers were attracted by the challenge of bringing a new breed to full recognition by the AKC.  Jay was the first Studbook Guardian, wrote the first Breed Standard, and together the Sheaffers used their collective knowledge and experience in the dog world to set the guidelines for Canaan Dog type and temperament in the United States with their Spatterdash breeding.  The dedication to the breed of many owners and breeders, and their devotion and support over three decades, resulted in the full acceptance of the Canaan Dog breed  by the AKC in 1997, despite significant obstacles. 

“Aleph of Star Pine” CCA # 5* was the first Canaan Dog born in the United States on November 24, 1965, and was sent to the Sheaffers at six months of age.  His arrival was announced in their local newspaper, and he was destined to sire over 70 puppies out of nine females.  His sire was “Birion me B’Nei Habitachon,” and his dam, “Waf me Massada,” the mother of good temperament in our breed. “Birion” and Waf” were two of the first four imports sent by Dr. Menzel to arrive by boat near Los Angeles on September 7, 1965. The other two were “Toro me Isfijal” CCA #1 and “Belith me B’Nei Habitachon” CCA # 4, litter sister to “Birion.”  All four contributed significantly to the development of the Canaan Dog breed in the USA. “Waf” went to live with the Sheaffers and “Birion” went to Audrey Biemann in Florida where he lived out his life in contentment as a family companion.  “Aleph” is five generations removed from “Dugma,” the first dog recorded in the Israeli Studbook by the Menzels.   

The Menzels exported 17 more Canaan Dogs to the USA.  A total of four imports landed at the Sheaffers’ Spatterdash Kennels, Emmaus, Pennsylvania. “Petra of Petach Tikvah,” black and white and sister to “Peera of Petach Tikvah,” and “Limor me B’Nei Habitachon,” solid tan with white trim and sister to “Laish me “B’Nei Habitachon,” were the dams of the Ha’Aretz foundation dogs, “Spatterdash Dreidle” and “Spatterdash Limor."  Their sire was “Aleph of Star Pine.”  “Dreidle” was born on October 15, 1969, and “Limor” on November 6, 1973, into the last Spatterdash litter.   

“Dreidle” sired nine litters out of five females.  “Limor” was bred only to “Dreidle,” and whelped four litters.  Out of these litters came puppies with exemplary breed type, temperament, movement, health and personality.  Nobility and grace are the elusive, qualities that appear on occasion, among playful tactics surely designed to camouflage the precious, and sometimes mischievous, Canaan Dog natures.   

Puppies are unique and are stars in their own homes, even though many do not see dog shows, obedience trials, agility rings, tracking tests or herding instinct tests, venues where they can compete in conformation or performance events.  Some of the “Dreidle” and “Limor” puppies whose stars shone outside their homes are:  

Also in the first Ha’Aretz “Mem” litter was “Ha’Aretz Miryam Carrie,” an exceptionally beautiful, typey and graceful bitch, who was BOS (Best of Opposite Sex) to her sire at the 1979 National Specialty in Alamogordo, New Mexico, with Elenor May Gesler, ret, judging the breed.  Miryam was sent with several others to the kennels of German Garcia y Garcia in Bogota, Columbia, to contribute to his breeding program to resurrect pariah dogs in his native country.  

The Ha’Aretz “Nun” litter gave us several stars.  Brightest among them was Ha’Aretz Ner Tamid, sire of  “Dalith Levanat von Erez Jisrael” (“Vanya”), who, when bred to Ha’Aretz Reuben (CCA CH “Misha” TD ex “Padre’s Channah of Geva”), produced Ch “Shvatim Confidence” (“Dylan”), whose greatness lies in his contribution to the breed of his exquisite type and temperament at a time when both were most needed.  The dam of the German import, “Vanya,” was Gevaht Noam Matanah.  The “Reuben” ex “Vanya” litter was an exceptional one, and the first to fill a six generation pedigree.  From that litter only “Dylan” was bred. 

The “Nun” litter of six lovely puppies was born in July of 1979.  “Ha’Aretz Nira Lisa” was trained to show and went to Columbia with “Ha’Aretz Miryam Carrie.”  “Naomi” went to an appreciative family in New Jersey, and “Noam” became the beloved pet of the Del Sol family in Chicago.  He was obedience trained to the CD level.   

The Ha’Aretz Samach Litter was distinguished by its first “legitimate” obedience star, “Becky CD,” (“Samach Rebecca Waf Ha’Aretz CD”), owned and trained to the UD (Utility Dog) level by Art Cohn near Albany, NY.  “Becky CD” won her Title in three consecutive shows, well past her tenth year of age.  In 1988, at the CCA National Specialty, she had passed the Herding Instinct Test at the same time as her double grand-nephew, “Dylan” (“CH Shvatim Confidence”), who won the shepherd’s staff at that event.   

“Becky’s” litter brother, “Petro” (Samach Petro Ha’Aretz CCA TD), won his Tracking Dog Title on June 12, 1982, under two AKC licensed judges. He was prepared to run a TDX (Tracking Dog Excellent) track.

“Svivone Ha’Aretz” was named after her sire, “Dreidle.” She was shown once, never bred, and spent a good part of her life comfortably snoozing on her owners’ water bed. Her first-born brother, “Sulat,” spent his 15 ½ years in Olivette, Missouri, watching his young family grow.