COTON DE TULEAR

This breed’s name comes from the French cation, which means cotton, and de Tulear (or Toliara), which it is a city in the Southwest shore of Madagascar (in front of the Mozambique Channel, in the African continent). It is likely that some dogs of this breed reached the island after a shipwreck in the Indian Ocean, as narrated in certain pirate legends, or that its ascendants, were taken by the French troops to the Saint Pierre Island. After several natural selection generation, emerged the Saint Pierre cotton, now extinct, which originated the current cotton de Tulear, when it was developed by French breeders by a selective breeding, crossing it with the Maltese. It quickly became fashionable amongst the French high society that lived in the islands during colonization. It was also used as a guard dog, and as an exterminator of small harmful animals. Towards the end of the XVII century a few couples were taken to the United States, were currently some professional breeders are devoted to them. The International Canine Federation acknowledged it in 1970 and from then its standard was set.

PHYSICAL TRAITS of the COTON DE TULEAR
This dog’s main trait is precisely its fur, around 8 cm long, which reminds cotton texture. The fur is fine, heavy, slightly wavy and completely white, except for some cases with a mix of white and yellow fur in the ears, giving the impression of yellowish stains. It has a long body, with a muscular chest and back and a general solid appearance, the males are 25 to 32 cm to the cross and weigh between 4 and 6 kg, the females have height between 22 and 28 cm and weigh from 3.5 to 5 kg. The head, seen from above, forms a triangle, the forehead is straight, the nose is black or brown, the eyes are round, almost black and the droopy ears are shaped as an inverted V.

Despite not being a massively diffused breed, its current population is stable and there is no extinction risk.

TEMPERAMENT AND ADAPTATION of the COTON DE TULEAR
It is a dynamic and cheerful dog, quite noisy, rowdy and with an energetic and determined temperament. It comes across as aggressive towards other dogs, but with its masters it is very affectionate and dependant of the affection it is shown. It is convenient that the cotton de Tulear’s education begins very early and be conducted firm and constantly. Its adaptation to the city life offers no difficulty, but it doesn’t like loneliness at all.

EXERCISE AND CARE required for a COTON DE TULEAR
This dog’s fur requires a lot of attention, it must be untangled, combing it carefully and brushing it daily, it should also be bathed frequently and taken to a professional stylist every four months. Since it is a small athlete, it needs to exercise its muscles through daily walks. The cotton de tulear can’t stand being ignored and is capable of performing all kinds of tricks to get its owner’s attention.