Canaan dogs can compete in dog agility trials, obedience, showmanship, flyball, tracking, and herding events. Herding instincts and trainability can be measured at noncompetitive herding tests. Canaans exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials.Canaan dogs have a strong survival instinct. They are quick to react and wary of strangers, and will alert to any disturbances with prompt barking, thus making them excellent watchdogs. Though defensive, they are not aggressive and are very good with children within the family, but may be wary of other children or defensive when your child is playing with another child. They are intelligent and learn quickly, but may get bored with repetitive exercises or ignore commands if they find something of more interest.The ancient guardian Less known is a species known as the Canaan Dog or Kelev K’naani (כֶּלֶב כְּנַעֲנִי) in Hebrew. According to tradition, this was the dog the Israelites used to guard their sheep in Biblical times. When the Jewish people were exiled from their land, they left their dogs behind. But in the 20th century, Zionist breeders rediscovered this ancient dog. Today it is the national dog of the State of Israel.