The Canaan Dog Club of America

CDCA Herding Certification Program

1. Canaan Dogs registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), United Kennel Club (UKC), and/or AKC recognized reciprocal international purebred canine registry organizations (i.e., Israel Kennel Club, Canadian Kennel Club, British Kennel Club, etc) are eligible to participate in the CDCA herding instinct certification program. No ILP (indefinite listing privilege) registered Canaan Dogs are eligible, except those of known purebred parentage.
2. No Canaan Dogs younger than six (6) months of age may be tested for certification, except in a ducks/geese test, and then, must not be younger than 5 months of age.
3. Livestock to be used in the certification must be well dog-broke with a minimum of three (3) head to a maximum of five (5) head to be used for each dog tested. If more than one dog is to be tested in a day or session, rotation of the stock during the test will be at the evaluator's discretion. Sheep, goats, ducks, and geese are the recommended livestock to be used for the test; cattle may be used if no other livestock are available, but are not recommended for Canaan Dogs (due to kick height and cattle unpredictability factors).
4. Evaluators must be licensed herding test/trial judges in good standing with the AKC, American Herding Breed Association (AHBA), Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA) and/or Canadian Kennel Club (CKC). Dogs certified by any other evaluator than those licensed by the above herding organizations will have their certification invalidated.
5. Canaan Dogs may be certified at any CDCA-sanctioned herding event, by a private herding instructor as long as that person is a licensed judge as stated above, or at an AKC, AHBA, ASCA, or Canadian sanctioned herding event where a herding instinct test is being offered; the owner of the dog must petition the judge to complete the CDCA evaluation form (scoresheet) in addition to the official AKC/AHBA/ASCA/CKC scoresheet at the conclusion of their performance.
6. Except for herding instinct tests held as a part of the CDCA National Specialty events, owners wishing to have their Canaan Dogs certified are responsible for obtaining the official CDCA Herding Evaluation form (scoresheet) from either the CDCA website or the CDCA Herding Chair. A copy of the form, upon the successful completion (PASSED) of the test by the dog, must each be sent to the CDCA Herding and Awards Chairperson(s) for acknowledgment of the achievement. Another copy of the form should be kept by the dog's owner as a part of the dog's permanent records and, if he/she so desires, a copy given to the evaluator.
7. A Canaan Dog which passes the herding instinct test will be awarded the CDCA title, Herding Certified (HC) by the Herding and Awards Chairs upon notification, and the certificate awarded to the owner at the next annual awards banquet.
8. For the CDCA Herding Excellent (HCX) title, a Canaan Dog must successfully pass three (3) herding instinct tests under at least two (2) different judges. In addition, one of the tests must be a CDCA-sanctioned herding instinct test (i.e., a test held during a CDCA National Specialty, regional specialty or other CDCA-sanctioned event). A dog may obtain two (2) qualifying "legs" within the same day under the same judge or different judges for each test and provided that sufficient time (minimum of 1 hr) has elapsed to allow livestock and dog ample rest.

For more information on the CDCA Herding Program, please contact Denise Gordon, CDCA Herding Chair.

For more information on Canaan Dogs and herding, read our article entitled “Herding with the Canaan Dog”.

If your Canaan Dog passes a Herding Instinct Evaluation, it will be awarded the CDCA-HC (Herding Certified) title. Print this Herding Evaluation Form to register your Canaan Dog's achievement.

Work, Jordy, work!