Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of a Coton de Tulear.
It’s a dog, by the way.
It is little known, but it makes a great animal companion for almost all families. The Coton de Tulear will get along well with all members of the family, including children, the elderly, and even other pets.
They are gentle, affectionate, quite cheerful even. Most are smart and do very well in obedience classes.
They adapt well to cities, suburbs, and country life.
Appearance and exercise
Since you’ve probably never seen a Coton de Tulear, pay attention here and I’ll tell you what to look for so you know if you see one. Won’t you feel so smart when you tell your friends, “Actually, that’s not a pooch. It’s a Coton de Tulear”? Of course you will.
The Coton de Tulear has a long, fine, slightly wavy, white, fluffy coat (easy to see) that grows to about 3 inches in length. That’s pretty good, since the whole dog is only about 10 inches tall. Naturally, veterinarians and groomers recommend that you brush them every day.
Sometimes they have a black and white color on the head, but most of the time only white or whitish.
They weigh between 12 and 15 pounds (80% of that is probably hair) and they love taking long walks every day.
So who knows, you might see one.
origins
You could probably care less, but stay with me. This is interesting. And remember, until two minutes ago you had never heard of a Coton de Tulear.
European traders brought their Bichons to Madagascar with them in the 16th century. This large island off the Indian coast of Africa was a major stopover and rest point on the Europe / Far East trade routes.
Over the centuries these Bichons “left behind”, with nothing better to do since TV was still a few years away, they crossed each other and the result is the Coton de Tulear.
“Coton” means “cotton” in French (those crazy Frenchmen!) And “Tulear” is the name of the port in Madagascar where the Europeans landed. So this is a dog that looks a lot like cotton and used to walk around the port of Tulear. There is a great joke here, I’m sure. But damn if it occurs to me. Write me if you do.