Our aim at Anacan is to preserve and promote the natural Canaan Dog. Ellen began promoting the breed in 1984 under the 'Briel' affix in the USA and since 1995 under the 'Anacan' affix in the UK and is a member of the Kennel Club Assured Breeders Scheme . Fortunately, her husband, Richard, loves the Canaans as much as she does and helps in every area of their care. He has bred one litter before meeting Ellen which produced the wonderful 'Digger' (The Lion of Judah At Anacan).

We have worked hard to help the Canaan Dog Club of the United Kingdom to strengthen and grow and, on a personal level, to develop a healthy, typey line that we are proud of and is sought after to help improve other lines. We believe we have succeeded in doing so. Indeed we have the only established line of Canaan Dogs in the UK and to-date, almost all the top-winning Canaan Dogs in the UK have either been bred by us, or have been linebred on our lines. However we strive to continue to improve the Anacan line with each new generation.

Due to the fact that we screen our potential buyers and good Canaan Dog homes are limited, we breed only occasionally. You can contact us about future plans for breeding.

Before we decide to breed one of our girls we take many things into consideration. When we breed we always do so with the idea of improving upon what we already have. We have endeavoured to keep our line as close to the natural and healthy Canaan as is possible. As we also want our breeding to benefit the breed as a whole, we carefully choose our breeding stock for what we feel is correct not only in breed type, but is also sound and healthy in body and mind.

Often we want to keep something from the litter for ourselves, but we also must have enough good homes lined up (generally 4) before we will undertake a breeding. England is a small country and the Canaan Dog is not a breed for everyone. We have, and will, export our Canaans abroad, but we hope that most of our puppies will remain in England in order to help the breed grow in strength here. Therefore, there can be a wait in between litters as we wish to be responsible breeders and not add to the numbers of unwanted dogs in the world.

If you decide you would like to go onto our waiting list please do not be offended when we question you. We do our best to explain to everyone that even if you are on our waiting list it does not guarantee you will get a puppy. We do our best, based on the information you give us, to match the right puppy with the right family. We encourage people to meet a Canaan Dog 'in the flesh' before making a final decision to acquire a puppy. There are several opportunties to do so throughout the year -- Discover Dogs at the ExCel Centre, London in October, the National Pet Show at the NEC, Birmingham in November, and at Crufts in March.. We are also happy to have people come to Anacan at a mutually convenient time and meet all of our dogs. Nothing you read can take the place of actually meeting and interacting with a number of Canaan Dogs.

Once you are on our waiting list if the puppy that would best fit in with you and/or your family by virtue of temperament and character is not produced in a particular litter, we suggest you wait until the 'right' puppy comes along. Though this seldom happens, we feel very strongly that it is important to try to make a match that will be a happy one for the dog as well as the owners and are not here just to sell puppies. We can only go by our gut feelings and the information you give us, so it is important that you tell us the truth. We don't always get it right, no on does, but we feel our record of match making is pretty darn good!

As a puppy buyer you have every right to ask us questions. But we too have the right to question you as we wish only the best for both our puppies and our buyers. So what do we require of you?

1. We require that you believe us. You would be surprised as to how many people just will not believe that the Canaan Dog is not like other dogs. In our experience it is often the "doggy people", people who have had dogs for years and "know everything" who make unsuccessful Canaan owners. In our many years of experience with Canaan Dogs (since June 1984), first-time owners are more likely to listen to what we have to say, and thus be successful Canaan owners. Please don't think of getting a Canaan Dog if what you want is an outgoing, social dog, as most are not. Please do not think of getting a Canaan Dog, if what you want is a Golden Retriever-type temperament. You shouldn't marry someone thinking you can change them, and you shouldn't buy a particular breed of dog thinking you can, or should, change it.
   
   
2. We require that you educate yourself about the breed---it is for your own benefit!. This site offers links to most of the other Canaan Dog sites. There is a lot of information to be had. Access it, read it, digest it. Speak to other breeders. The acquisition of a puppy is an important decision, and the decision to acquire a Canaan Dog takes more thought than many breeds.
   
   
3. We require that you be honest with us. Tell us where you heard about the breed and why you think it would be the right breed for you. If it is to be a family dog, does everyone in the family want it? Do you have the time and inclination to socialise and train your Canaan properly? Are you financially able to take care of a dog? (Remember, the purchase price is only the beginning. You must feed the dog properly and take it for its regular veterinary checkups and vaccines.) What do you envision doing with your dog?..hiking?..obedience? agility? show? breed? sitting around the house? The more information you give to us, the easier it is for us to help you, even if it may mean guiding you to a different breed altogether.
   
   
4. We require that you keep in touch with us if you do get one of our puppies. This doesn't mean you have to ring or email us every week, but from time-to-time we like to know if all is well. We also want you to contact us if any problems do develop.

It's not a big list, but it is an important one as we feel it will help us find the right homes for our Canaans. We put a lot of love and effort into raising these special creatures and we cannot, in good conscience, let them just go anywhere.

Please be assured that if we feel you are not the right person/family for one of our dogs, it does not necessarily mean that you would not make a good dog owner. It just means that we do not feel a Canaan is the breed that would make you happy.

Our dogs are not kennel dogs....they are raised in the house with us. Our puppies are born with Ellen right by mother's side throughout the labour and they are raised in our house. We do not allow our puppies to leave us before they are 8 weeks of age and all of our puppies are given a complete health check, their first vaccination, and are microchipped by our veterinarian before leaving for their new homes.

Ellen is a member of the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme.