Canis is the family, not the species.
What is the difference between family and species, biologically?
BTW, I mistyped, I meant to say that Canis is the GENUS, not the FAMILY.
To answer your question, Genus is grouping of similar species that share common characteristics. That is a very simplistic answer and there are some criteria in place to group species into genus but it's not exact.
It is a little more exact than species since it deals with larger population groups. Like in the previous example, its a judgment call if wolves and domestic dogs are of the same species, but it's hard to see that they are closely related enough to certainly be part of the same genus.