Coton de Tulear
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Coton de Tulear is a small breed of dog.
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Appearance
The Coton stands between about 9.5 and 13 inches (24 to 33 cm) tall at the withers (shoulders). A Coton is little more than two feet long (0.6 m) and weighs less than 18 pounds (8.2 kg). They have dark, engaging eyes, black lips, and a medium-length muzzle tipped with a black nose.
The Coton de Tulear earned its name from its unique, cotton-like hair, and for the port city Tulear in Madagascar. Its dry, wind-tossed coat is probably the easiest to maintain of any long-haired breed, but it still requires regular grooming. The hair is about four to six inches long, dries quickly when wet, and requires relatively little brushing. The Coton sheds very little, and rarely bothers people who suffer from chronic allergies and is therefore considered hypoallergenic (See list of Hypoallergenic dog breeds).
There are three color varieties: white (often with champagne color patches); black and white; and tricolor. A tricolor adult is mostly white with champagne patches and a faint, irregular "dusting" of black hairs.
Temperament
Probably the most outstanding characteristic of the Coton de Tulear is its behavior. The Coton is a "companion dog," bred for the pure delight of its loving attention to its human family. It is very intelligent and studies its human family with great care. The Coton is an alert, lively companion and most Cotons seldom bark, although some will act as alarm clocks and guard dogs.
Cotons are calm, sturdy dogs, most of whom enjoy the well-intentioned rough-housing of children. They enjoy most household pets including other dogs and cats and are easily trained.
Health
Cotons are hearty dogs and, with acclimation, frolic in desert heat or winter snow. However, the Coton is strictly an indoor dog. The breed is extremely healthy, long-lived, and, in the North American population of Cotons, has no known genetic defects. They live about 16 years (15.7 years on average); the oldest specimen survived for almost 19 years.
History
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 French Petit Lion Dog, the Bichon Frise, the Italian Bolognese, the South American Havanese, and the Coton de Tulear.
The Tenerife, now extinct, was introduced to the Indian Ocean Islands of Mauritius and R?ion 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 R?ion." The Coton de R?ion, accompanied merchants, officials, and pirates on their voyages as a valued possession.
Coton de R?ion 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 ["MARE-in"] 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 forbade 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 F?ration Cynologique Internationale (the FCI) recognized the Coton de Tulear as a rare purebred. Unfortunately, political and economic crises on Madagascar now threaten the Coton with extinction in its native land.
