Chateau de Bella Fluffy Cotons

Coton de Tulear, are a rare, ancient pure-breed that originated on the island of Madagascar more than three centuries ago.

Originally the Coton was exclusively the dog of Royalty, but are now available to a select, exclusive few lucky people outside of Madagascar. There are fewer than 2,500 CTCA registered Cotons in North America today.

The Cotons are a companion breed and are very intelligent and easy to house train, they are very social, gentle and laid back. They study  their human family, and are very loving towards them. Cotons are very playful, and retain that  puppy-like quality their entire life, and are very slow to anger. The Cotons seldom bark but some can act as alarm clocks or guard dogs.

The Coton de Tulear has a soft, cotton-like hair. Their coat is very easy to maintain compared to other  long-haired breeds, but does require some regular grooming. Their hair is usually kept to about four to six inches long. Some owners prefer to keep their Cotons in a "puppy cut", to make grooming even easier.  It dries quickly when wet. They require a small amount of brushing, they shed very little, you'll find some hair in the brush just liek when people brush their own hair. They rarely bother people who suffer from chronic allergies. Some will call them "Hypoallergenic" and they basically are, the cleaning product used is what could bother some sensitive people.

A standard Malagasy Coton stands between 9.5 inches and 13 inches tall at the shoulders.  They are a little more than two feet l0ng and weighs between 9 and 18 pounds, averaging about 14 pounds.

There are different standards for different Cotons, as there are Cotons from Europe that are much smaller, the size of Maltese dogs, and you should beware when looking at "European Cotons" as they could actually be Maltese being sold as Cotons. The CTCA does not recognize these Cotons as part of the CTCA registry. As you will see there is a great difference in price between Maltese and Cotons. There are also Cotons that have been crossed with Bichons, Maltese, even poodles and sold as "pure-bred" Cotons, its important to know who you are buying from and what club your Coton is registered with.

You will find three beautiful color varieties: White, which often have patches of champagne coloring. Black and white, which will retain most of their coloring. Tri-color, which have patches of brown, black and white. The colors on a tri-color Coton will likely fade some as they get older, the brown turning to a tan,  but keep a slight "dusting" of black hairs.

They are a hearty breed that enjoy walks and hikes, playing in the snow as well as on the beach. However,  they are strictly indoor dogs. With a healthy diet of high quality dog food and lots of love, the Coton will bring you many years of happiness, they can live to about 16 years, the oldest survived 19 years.

Our CTCA Malagasy Cotons are sold as either "Potentially Breedable" or "Not Breedable or Pet Quality". They will go to their new forever homes at about 10-12 weeks of age. Between 8 and 10 weeks the puppies are judged and watched to determine whether they will be "Potentially Breedable" or "Not Breedable" as well as their personalities. Just like humans, Cotons have different personalities, some are more playful than others, some are more laid back than others. Its important for all involved to make a good match.

Its easy to see why the Coton de Tulear is such a wonderful breed of dog to own.

For Information about the breed, or the CTCA, please visit www.cotonclub.og

"Potentially"Breedable vs. Not Breedable or Pet Quality, whats the difference?

They are all  beautiful, adorable, loving and make wonderful companions.

Although its hard to determine if a puppy at 10 weeks old will grow up to be Breedable or Not Breedable, we do our best to judge. There are subtle differences we look for:

Not Breedable or Pet Quality, which can not be bred, and must be neutered may have:

• Incompletely pigmented eye rings, lips or nose,
• undershot or over shot jaws,
• the pup will grow too tall or be too small as an adult,
• the male pup has only one or no descended testicles or "cryptorchid",
• the pup is too inbred, which in this case all pups from that litter will be "Not Breedable" quality

All CTCA Cotons, regardless or Breedable or Pet Quality status are treasured and registered with the CTCA.

"Potentially"Breedable   pups:

When the "Potentially" Breedable pup is one year old or older the owner will take the dog to the Vet to be Health Tested.There is a comprehensive health exam the vet will perform on the pup, and fill out a CTCA Health Test form. Once the results are in, the form and the results are sent in to the CTCA. The CTCA will determine whether the Coton passed and remains a Breedable Coton or if it needs to be reclassified as Not Breedable.

A CTCA registered Breedable Coton can be bred with other CTCA registerd Cotons.

The CTCA was established in the mid 1970's by Dr. Robert Jay Russell, a biologist working on Madagascar at the time. The first Cotons were sent to the US in 1974. The CTCA maintains records of all of the Cotons, their registrations and breed standards. All CTCA Malagasy Cotons will be registered with the CTCA and will be lifetime members.

Every owner of a registered CTCA Coton will receive an official Pedigree Certificate.