My regular readers will know that I love dogs. In fact, our whole family and everyone at my marketing agency is a “dog-person”.
My husband and I have always had at least two, and sometimes as many as four of these four-legged best friends. They are part of our family and make a house a home.
We recently lost our 14 ½ year-old West Highland Terrier, Dexter. To say that I was heartbroken is an understatement. Dexter was my first American dog and joined the English dogs that emigrated to America with me. He shared most of my adventures in Coastal Georgia as I learned to live on a new continent.
He was also my first small dog, and I called him “My Little Man”. He was pretty much my constant companion, and even though terriers can be proud and stubborn and sometimes difficult, we had a real bond, and he was happy to snuggle in a very “un-terrier” like way. Despite our Labradoodle and Golden Retriever trying to console me by stepping into the role of 65 and 75 pound “lap dogs” for me, I admit that there was a small, dog-sized hole in my heart. After a few weeks of me feeling “down and out”, my husband declared that I “needed a small dog” and we began to search for a perfect little new companion. Of course, new members of our pack never replace the ones that have gone to the “Rainbow Bridge”, but they generate love and joy in their own way.
So I started my research to look for the perfect breed and the perfect breeder that raises their dogs in a family environment. I had heard good things about a small, perky breed called Coton de Tulear (pronounced with a French accent as ‘Ko-Ton de Two-lay-air’).
They are happy-go-lucky small but sturdy dogs who see their primary job as providing amusement, comfort, and companionship. Even better, they are the perfect size for snuggling as the adults weigh 11 to 15 pounds and life expectancy is excellent – from 15-19 years. The bond between Cotons and their people is so tight that owners discuss it in human terms. Yes, please sign me up for that relationship!
The Coton de Tulear is known as the ‘Royal Dog of Madagascar,’ and has an interesting history. They are named for their beautiful profuse white coats that are as soft as cotton (pronounced ‘coton’ in French) and the port city of Tulear in Madagascar, an island country off the south eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The breed is a member of the Bichon family of dogs that are descendants of an ancient European breed, the Barbet. A small, shorthaired line of the Barbet, the “Bichon Tenerife,” was introduced to the Canary Islands by the Spanish about 500- 600 years ago.
From this breed descended many types of small dogs including Maltese, Bichon Frise, Havanese and Coton de Tulear.
Back in the 16th and 17th centuries, sailors took their Bichon Tenerife dogs to the Indian Ocean Islands of Mauritius and Reunion. The breed acquired a long, cotton-like coat, probably because of a mutation and became known as the “Coton de Reunion”.
This type of dog is now extinct, but its descendant, the Coton de Tulear, appeared at the pirate and slave-trading port of Tulear, Madagascar, during the 17th century. Legend has it that this breed descended from little white dogs who swam to Madagascar following a shipwreck. Adopted by the ruling classes and bred with native hunting dogs, this Bichon-family breed was initially reserved exclusively for island aristocracy. But at the turn of the 20th century, conquering French colonists adopted the Coton as well and the breed became more widely available. The Coton de Tulear is the “Official Dog of Madagascar,” and has been honored on a postage stamp.
In 1974, three years before Cotons appeared in Europe, Dr. Robert Jay Russell, an American biologist studying Madagascar’s lemurs, sent Coton breeding stock to America. Dr.
Russell’s father founded the Oakshade Kennel in New Jersey, and the breed was enthusiastically received. Today, it is not easy to find a Coton breeder in the South so my long-suffering husband drove us on a 600-mile round trip to the north-western border of South Carolina, twice in two weeks: once to meet and then to take home our new puppy.
We have called him Max, and he is a pure delight.
He loves coming to the office with me every day, where my co-workers also dote on him, and back at home our Golden Retriever (currently 15 times larger than Max) has adopted him as a new toy that plays back!
There is more information at www.akc.org I say goodbye this week with a quote which really resonates with me, from Pulitzer Prize winner , 20th century author and dog lover, Edith Wharton. “My little dog – a heartbeat at my feet”.
God Bless America and dog lovers everywhere!
Lesley grew up in London, England and made Georgia her home in 2009. She can be contacted at lesley@francis. com or via her full-service marketing agency at www. lesleyfrancispr. com.
