COTON DE TULEAR

ORIGIN : Madagascar.

PATRONAGE : France

UTILIZATION : Companion dog.

FCI-CLASSIFICATION :

Group 9 Companion and Toy Dogs.

Section 1.2 Coton de Tuléar.

Without working trial.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : Introduced to France long

before its official recognition in 1970, this newcomer from

Madagascar quickly acquired a prominent position amongst the

companion dogs of this country; today it is widespread 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 :

· The height at the withers in relationship to the length of the body is

2 to 3.

· The length of the head in relationship to that of the body is 2 to 5.

· The length of the skull in relationship to that of the muzzle is 9 to

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : 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, seen from above 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 zygomatic arches.

Stop : Slight.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : In the extension of the nasal bridge; black; brown is

tolerated; nostrils wide open.

Muzzle : Straight.

Lips : Fine, tight, of the same colour as the nose.

Jaws/Teeth : Teeth well aligned. Scissor bite, pincer bite or inverted

bite without losing contact. The absence of the PM1 is not

penalised; 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

colour 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 well set into

shoulders. Proportion of neck to body = 1/5. 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 muscled.

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, 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 dogs

with abundant coat, the tip may rest on the dorsal-lumbar region.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS :

General appearance : The frontlegs are upright.

Shoulder and upper arm : Oblique shoulder, muscled. Scapulohumeral

angle about 120°. The length of the upper arm corresponds

approximatively to that of the shoulder blade.

Lower arm : Lower arms vertical and parallel, well muscled, with

good bone. The length of the lower arm corresponds

approximatively to that of the upper arm.

Carpus (Pastern joint) : A continuation of the line of the lower arm.

Metacarpals (Pastern) : Strong, seen in profile sloping very slightly.

Forefeet : Small, round, toes tight, arched; pads pigmented.

HINDQUARTERS :

General appearance : The hindlegs are upright. Though dewclaws

are not sought after, their presence is not penalised.

Upper thigh : Strongly muscled; coxo-femoral angle about 80°.

Lower thigh : Oblique, forming with the femur an angle of about

120°.

Hock joint : Dry, well defined, angle of the hock about 160°.

Metatarsals (Rear pasterns): Vertical.

Hind feet : Similar to forefeet.

GAIT / 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

colour, it can be pigmented.

COAT

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.

COLOUR : Ground colour : White. A few slight shadings of light

grey colour (mixture of white and black hairs) or of red-roan

(mixture of white 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 : 26-28 cm, tolerance of 2 cm above

and 1 cm below.

Females : 23-25 cm, tolerance of 2 cm above

and 1 cm below.

Weight :

Males : From 4 kg to a maximum of 6 kg.

Females : From 3,5 kg to a maximum of 5 kg.

FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be

considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be

regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect

upon the health and welfare of the dog.

FCI-St. N° 283 / 04.02.2000

SERIOUS FAULTS :

· Skull : Flat or too domed, narrow.

· Muzzle : Disproportion between skull and muzzle.

· Eyes : Light, too almond shaped; entropion, ectropion, prominent

eyes.

· Ears : Too short, with insufficient length of hair; ears folding

backwards (rose ear).

· Neck : Too short, too stuffy in shoulder, 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.

· Hair : Too short, too wavy, curly.

· Pigmentation : Partially lacking or too light pigmentation of

eyelids or lips; discoloured nose, with unpigmented areas.

DISQUALIFYING FAULTS :

Aggresive or overly shy.

· Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities

shall be disqualified.

General type :

· 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.

Particular points :

· 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.

FCI-St. N° 283 / 04.02.2000

· Hair : Atypical, rightly curled, woolly, silky.

· Colour : Heavily marked; any marking of a definite black.

· Pigmentation : Total lack of pigment on eyerims, nose or lips.

Anomalies :

· Overshot or undershot mouth with lack of contact between the

incisors; vertical gaping of the incisors.

· Absence of teeth other than the PM1 or the M3s.

· Aggressive or extremely shy specimen.

N.B.:

· Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully

descended into the scrotum.

· Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical

conformation should be used for breeding.

info@tornadomagija.lt