Coton de Tulear

The Coton de Tulear is a small companion dog from Madagascar, named after the port city of Tuléar, now also called Toliara. Coton is French for cotton, a description of its soft coat. It is the national dog of Madagascar.

History

The Coton is a dog of the Bichon type, most closely linked to the Bichon Tenerife. Its ancestors may have reached Madagascar on pirate ships in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the island was a pirate haven; one story has a group of small white dogs swimming ashore from a shipwreck. Whether they sailed as ratters, companions or plunder is not known.

On the island the Coton was a companion of the Merina, the ruling people, and at one time only royalty were allowed to keep it. It was never feral and was never a hunting dog, despite stories to the contrary.

French colonists occasionally took Cotons home, but the breed was not formally imported into Europe until the 1970s. The French kennel club recognised it in 1970 and the FCI published a standard in 1972. Robert Jay Russell, a biologist, met the breed in Madagascar in 1973, brought the first dogs to America, and founded the Coton de Tuléar Club of America in 1976 with its own standard. The American Kennel Club fully recognised the breed on July 1, 2014.

Appearance

The Coton has a medium to long, fluffy coat that is counted as hair rather than fur, a black nose, round dark eyes set wide apart, high-set triangular ears and rather short legs. The tail curls over the back when the dog is moving or excited.

The standards differ. The FCI asks for a white coat, allowing a little tan or lemon on the ears and body but no black. The American club accepts white, black and white, and tricolor. Colors often fade as a puppy grows, so that many marked puppies become nearly white adults.

Under the FCI standard males stand 25–30 cm and females 22–27 cm. The American club gives a height of 23–33 cm (9–13 in) and a weight of no more than 8.2 kg (18 lb), usually 5–6.8 kg (11–15 lb). A rare, long-legged Tall Coton of 38–43 cm (15–17 in) is sometimes born to parents of normal size.

Temperament

The Coton is a friendly dog with a lively, bright and merry expression. It has very little prey drive.

Care and health

The coat does not shed and gives off little dander, but it mats easily and needs brushing and combing every day. Puppies may shed their first coat.

A 2024 UK study found a life expectancy of 14.2 years. The long back and short legs put extra strain on the body when the dog jumps, climbs stairs or turns suddenly.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.