From the wild dogs of Israel, adaptable Canaan dogs were produced to guard, herd, and manage sheep. During the War, they served as sentries and messengers, mine detectors, trackers, search and rescue dogs, and guides for blind men. Nowadays, they still tend farm stock as they did for the Bedouins centuries previously. Tombs dating back 2200 B.C. contain drawings of similar canines. This Spitz family breed came to America in 1965.