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Coton De Tulear
 | The Coton de Tulear is a hearty, lively, small
companion dog with a friendly, engaging personality. Calm and intelligent,
the "Royal Dog of Madagascar" is characterized by its long, dry,
cotton-like coat. There are three color varieties.
 | White: all white,
often with champagne (cream-biscuit) highlights on ears and dorsum. |
| Black-and-White:
pure white with prominent black patches on head and body. No
restriction on the ratio of white-to-black |
| Tri-Color: mostly
white and cream, but tinged with beige areas; black hairs dust
portions of the ears and sometimes the body and head. Tri-colors are
usually heavily marked as neonates and juveniles, but as the adult
coat appears, these Cotons may appear almost white. |
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| The Coton de Tulear is a member of the Bichon family
of dogs. The Bichons (as well as the Poodle and Briard) are descendents of
an ancient European breed, the Barbet. A small, short-haired descendent of
the Barbet, the "Bichon Tenerife," was introduced to the Canary Islands by
the Spanish. The Tenerife gave rise to the modern, Mediterranean Maltese,
the French Petit Lion Dog and Bichon Frise, the Italian Bolognese, the
South American Havanais, and the Coton de Tulear.
The Tenerife, now extinct, was introduced to the Indian Ocean Islands of
Mauritius and Reunion by sailors in the 16th and 17th Centuries. The breed
acquired a long, cotton-like coat (perhaps the result of a single
mutation) and was known as the "Coton de Reunion." The Coton de Reunion, a
valued possession, accompanied merchants, officials, and pirates on their
voyages. |
| The Coton de Reunion is extinct, but its descendent,
the Coton de Tulear, appeared at the pirate and slave-trading port of
Tulear, Madagascar, during the 17th Century. Adopted by the ruling Merina
tribal monarchy, it quickly became known as "The Royal Dog of Madagascar."
During its long development on Madagascar, a native hunting dog -- the
Morondava Hunting Dog -- was added to the Coton's ancestry, giving this
Bichon-family breed extraordinary soundness and stamina. |
| The ruling Merina controlled the breed closely. They
forbid both coastal tribesmen (85% of the population) and non-noblemen to
own a Coton. At the turn of this century, conquering French colonists
adopted the Coton as well. Today, usually only social-climbing Malagasy
and Frenchmen own a Coton de Tulear. The Coton is the
"Official Dog of Madagascar," and has been honored on a postage stamp. In
1970, the world-wide French Kennel Club [the FCI] recognized the Coton de
Tulear as a rare, pure-breed. |
| The Coton is the "Official Dog of Madagascar," and a
Tri-Color Coton was honored on a postage stamp in 1974. Since the '70s,
the Coton de Tulear has been recognized as a rare, pure-breed dog.
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| Some of our parents are championship quality and
have been shown in local ARBA sponsored events. |
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