The Coton de Tuléar is a breed of small dog named for the city of Tuléar (also known as Toliara) in Madagascar. This breed is thought to have originated from a group of small white dogs who swam across the Malagasy channel following a shipwreck. Known for its cotton-like coat, the Coton de Tuléar, typically grows to no more than 18 pounds, and are white, sometimes with gray, black, or tricolored markings.

History

The Coton de Tulear developed on the island of Madagascar and is still the island’s national dog. It is believed that the Tenerife dog was brought to Madagascar and mated with a dog of the island, creating an unexpected result. The Coton’s ancestors were possibly brought to Madagascar in the 16th and 17th centuries aboard pirate ships. Madagascar was a haven for pirates and pirate graveyards can still be seen there. Pirates established a base on St. Mary’s Island, Madagascar and some of them took Malagasy wives. Whether the dogs were brought along to control rats on the ships, as companions for long voyages, or were confiscated from other ships as booty, no one knows. Tulear is a port now also known as Toliara. The Coton is of the Bichon dog type, linked most closely to the Bichon Tenerife and the Tenerife Terrier. There have been many stories circulating about the history of the Coton in recent years, most of them untrue. The Coton de Tulear was never feral on Madagascar. It did not hunt wild boar or alligators, as its size, strength, and demeanour can disprove easily. It was a companion dog of the Merina (the ruling tribe) in Madagascar. It has a very little prey drive and is not a hunting dog.

The cottony coat may be the result of a single gene mutation. This small, friendly dog caught the fancy of the Malagasy royalty and they were the only people allowed to keep Cotons. When Dr. Robert Jay Russell discovered the breed in Madagascar in 1973 and brought the first ones to America, he coined the phrase the Royal Dog of Madagascar and the name stuck. They were also imported occasionally into France by returning French colonists but were not officially imported to Europe until the 1970s. In 1974, Madagascar released a stamp with the image of the Coton, affirming their status nation’s “royal dog”.

In the United States, another standard for the Coton de Tulear was developed based upon the breed in Madagascar in 1974 by a biologist, Dr. Robert Jay Russell. Russell established the Coton de Tulear Club of America in 1976 and was opposed to American Kennel Club recognition. The Coton de Tulear entered the American Kennel Club Foundation Stock Service (their first step in breed recognition) in 1996 and became a fully recognized breed on July 1st, 2014. The American Kennel Club Parent Club for the breed in the United States of America Coton de Tulear Club.