TRANSLATION : Mrs. Pamela
Jeans-Brown, Mrs.Renée Sporre-Willes, Mr. Raymond Triquet.
ORIGIN : Madagascar.
PATRONAGE : France.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 25.11.1999.
UTILIZATION : Companion dog.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : 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 5.
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 : The frontlegs are upright.
Shoulder
and upper arm : Oblique shoulder, muscled. Scapulo-humeral 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 : 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.
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.
ELIMINATING FAULTS :
·
Aggresive
or overly shy.
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.
·
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.
Any
dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be
disqualified.
N.B. : Male animals
should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.