UTILIZATION: Companion Dog
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY: Introduced in France long before its official recognition in 1970, this newcomer from Madagascar quickly acquired a prominent position amongst the small dogs. His fame has spread all over the world.
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Small, long-haired companion dog with a white cotton textured coat, with round, dark eyes and a lively, intelligent expression.
IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS: Ratio of height at the withers to the length of the body is 2 to 3. Ratio of length of the head to length of the body is 2 to 5. Ratio of the length of the skull to that of the muzzle is 9 to 5.
BEHAVIOR AND TEMPERMENT: Of a happy temperament, stable, very sociable with humans and with other dogs; it adapts perfectly to all ways of life. The temperament of the Coton de Tuléar is one of the main characteristics of the breed.
HEAD: Short and seen from above as triangular.
CRANIAL REGION Skull: Seen from the front slightly rounded; rather wide in relation to its length. Superciliary arches only slightly developed. Slight frontal groove. Occipital protuberance and crest only slightly accentuated. Well developed zygonmatic arches. Stop: Slight
FACIAL REGION Nose: In the extension of the nasal bridges; black; dark brown is tolerated; nostrils wide open. Muzzle: Straight Lips: Fine, tight, of the same color as the nose Jaws and Teeth: Teeth are well aligned. Scissor bite, pincer bite or inverted bite without losing contact. The absence of PMIs is not penalized; the M3s are not taken into consideration. Cheeks: Lean Eyes: Rather rounded, dark, lively, wide apart; the rims of the eyelids are well pigmented with black or brown according to the color of the nose. Ears: Pendulous, triangular, high set on the skull, fine at the tips; carried close to the cheeks, reaching the corners of the lips. Covered with white hairs or with some traces of light grey (mixture of white and black hairs giving a light grey appearance) or red-roan (mixture of white and fawn hairs giving a red- roan appearance- lemon).
NECK: Well muscled, slightly arched. Neck is well set into shoulders. Proportion of neck to body is 1-5 and approximately 3.3" long and 2.75" wide. Clean neck with no dewlap.
BODY: Topline very slightly convex. Dog longer than high. Withers: Only slightly pronounced. Back and loin: Strong back, topline very slightly arched. Loin well muscled. Croup: Oblique, short and muscular Chest: Well developed, well let down to elbow level, long. Ribs well sprung. Belly: Tucked up but not excessively.
TAIL: Low set, in the axis of the spinal column. At rest, carried below the hock with the tip being raised. On the move, carried "gaily" curved over the back with the point towards the nape, the withers, the back or the loin. In the dogs with abundant coat, the tip may rest on the dorsal-lumbar region.
LIMBS FOREQUARTERS: The front legs are upright. Shoulder and upper arm: Oblique shoulder, muscled; Scapulo-humeral angle about 120°. The length of the upper arm corresponds approximately to that of the shoulder blade. Lower arm: Humero-radial angle: about 120°. Lower arms vertical and parallel, well muscled, with good bone. The length of the lower arm corresponds approximately to that of the upper arm. Carpus: A continuation of the line of the lower arm. Metacarpals: Strong, seen in profile sloping very slightly. Forefeet: Small, round, toes tight, arched; pads pigmented.
HINDQUARTERS: The hind legs are upright. Though dewclaws are not sought, their presence is not penalized. Upper thigh: Strongly muscled; coxo-femoral angle above 80°. Lower thigh: Oblique, forming with the femur an angle of about 120°. Hock joint: Dry, well defined, angle of the hock is about 160°. Metatarsals: Vertical. Hind feet: Similar to forefeet. GAIT OR
MOVEMENT: Free and flowing, without covering a lot of ground; topline retained on the move. No sign of uneven movement.
SKIN: Fine, stretched tight over all the body; although of pink color, it can be pigmented. HAIR: This is one of the main characteristics of the breed from which its very name derives. Very soft and supple, with the texture of cotton, never hard or rough, the coat is dense, profuse and can be very slightly wavy.
COLOR: Ground color is white. A few slight shadings of grey color (mixture of white and block haris) or of red-roan (mixture of with and fawn hairs) are permitted on the ears. On the other parts of the body, such shadings can be tolerated if they do not alter the general appearance of white coat. They are however not sought after.
SIZE AND WEIGHT Height at withers: Males: 9.8" to 12.5" Females: 8.5" to 11" Weight: Males: 4 kg to 6 kg Females 3.5 kg to 5 kg.
FAULTS: Any departure for the standard as outlined is considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in proportion to its degree.
SERIOUS FAULTS Skull: Flat, too domed, narrow Muzzle: Disproportioned between skull and muzzle Eyes: Light, too almond shaped, entropion, extropion, vicious looking Ears: Too short with insufficient length of hair; ears folding backwards (rose ear) Neck: Too short, too stuffy in shoulders, too slender Topline: Too arched, sway backed Croup: Horizontal, narrow Shoulder: Straight Limbs: Turned inwards or outwards; out at elbows; hocks wide set or too close; straight angulations Coat: Too short, too wavy, curly Pigmentation: Partially lacking or too light pigmentation of eyelids or lips; discolored nose with non-pigmented areas
ELIMINATING FAULTS General: Lack of type (insufficient breed characteristics, which means that the animal on the whole does not sufficiently resemble other examples of the breed). Size and weight outside the requirements and tolerance of the standard are also eliminating faults. Foreface: Bridge of nose convex Eyes: Bulging, with signs of dwarfism; too light; wall eyes Ears: Pricked or semi-pricked Tail: Not reaching to hock; high set, completely curled (forming a tight ring); carried flat on the back or against the thighs; carried candle like; tailless Hair: Atypical, tightly curled, woolly silky Color: Heavily marked; any marking of a definite black Pigmentation: Total lack of pigmentation on eye rims, nose or lips Anomalies: Overshot or undershot mouth with lack of contact between the incisors; vertical gaping of the incisors; absence of teeth other that the PM1s or the M3s; aggressive or extremely shy specimen. N.B. Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. Spanish Coton de Tuléar, Nº 283 Grupo: 9/1.2
ASPECTO GENERAL: Pequeño perro con pelo largo, algodonoso, ojos redondos, oscuros y de expresión inteligente.
PROPORCIONES: - 2 a 3 en altura y largura. - 2 a 5 en cabeza y cuerpo. - 9 a 5 en cráneo y morro.
PELO: fino, sobre 8 cm. de largo, ligeramente ondulado, textura de algodón.
COLOR: Blanco, con manchas arena o grises más o menos oscuras aceptadas.
TALLA: - Machos: 28 cm. (25-32) - Hembras: 25 cm. (22-28) PESO: Siempre proporcionales a su talla. - Machos: 4-6 Kg. - Hembras: 3,5-5 Kg.
CABEZA: Corta, de cráneo ancho.
OJOS: Redondos, oscuros, de aspecto muy vivo.
PIEL: Fina con manchas grises más o menos oscuras.
TRUFA: Negra o tabaco oscuro.
LABIOS: Finos y pigmentados como la trufa.
PIES: Redondos, apretados y con cojinetes pigmentados.
COLA: De implantación baja. Es bastante larga, de unos 18 cm.