Not a food post but we’re proud to introduce our newest members of the family, Jack Earle (pronounced Early) Frost and Sam Elmo’s Fyre, born August 29, 2014. Sam is the one on top. They are Coton de Tulear- “the Royal Dog of Madagascar.” When they are fully grown they will be 12″ tall, 18″ long,15 lb bundles of long flowing white hair, mustache and beard. They do not shed, are hypoallergenic, easily trained (they use them as circus dogs) and have a wonderful disposition. They will come home with us around Halloween and everyone is very excited to have them home. Of course, there is a lot of work to do to make the house puppy proof and puppy ready. 😮
What started out as the acquisition of 1 family pet for Baby lady turned into 2. You see, Baby Lady has been asking me for a small dog for years. Having outlived many pets, I have politely refused. She is, however, persistent and I love her dearly. So, I eventually gave in. The question then became what type of dog to acquire? Baby Lady wanted a “tea cup” dog. Tea cup dogs, however, typically have lots of health problems. I was also worried we might step on it. 😮 I had always had large dogs, i.e. Weimaraner, Long Hair Collie, etc. (although I did have a Sheltie once). Baby Lady was adamant about no large dogs and we really don’t have the yard or open space for a large dog; so, we began looking at “small dogs.” After looking and researching about small dogs, we finally found the Coton de Tulear (pronounced KO-Tone Dih TOO-Lay-ARE).
The Coton de Tulear developed on the island of Madagascar and is still the island’s national dog. There is great legend of how the small little white dog came to Madagascar; however, almost everyone agrees the Coton de Tulear is descended from the bichon family. It’s name Coton comes from the French word for cotton because their long flowing white hair is as soft as cotton. Tulear is a town in Madagascar where the breed supposedly originated. Ultimately, the dogs found their way into the royal family of Madagascar (the Merina) who fell in love with them which is why they are considered the Royal Dog of Madagascar. The ruling Merina controlled the breed closely and forbade both coastal tribesmen and non-noblemen to own a Coton. At the turn of this century, conquering French colonists began to adopt the Coton. Even today, usually only social-climbing Malagasy and Frenchmen own a Coton de Tulear.
It is a recently discovered breed but there is a continual debate over its history and the proper standard for the breed. Some factions say the breed was first recognized in 1974 by Dr. Robert Jay Russsell, an American biologist living in Madagascar studying lemurs. Another faction says it was discovered in 1970 by Monsieur Louis Petit, President of the Canine Society of Madagascar. Regardless, it is now recognized as a rare breed. Further, after great fighting among breeders the Coton is now recognized by the AKC and will make its first appearance at the Westminster Dog Show in 2015.
This post will be an evolving post showing Jack and Sam from 1 day old through their development into full grown, mature Cotons and members of our family. We acquired these wonderful puppies from Shiloh Cotons in Aledo, TX. The Bruce family have been a real pleasure with which to deal. Kellie constantly sends us photos of the little puppies and we have visitation rights until we get to bring these precious little bundles of joy home. We hope you enjoy the photos.
Here are Jack & Sam at 3 weeks old on our first visitation trip.
Sam & Jack September 28, 2014 – 4 weeks old. They are getting fluffier. 🙂
Here they are on our last family visitation, October 12, 2014, at 6 weeks old. We will be bring them home next week and are soooo very excited. 😀
October 19, 2014 – 7 weeks old and home, at last. 😀
10/26/2014 – 8 Weeks old and still little cutie pies
October 30, 2014 – 9 week old puppies
November 4, 2014 – a cold, rainy night
November 6, 2014 – 10 week old fluffy puppies. They are getting so big.
November 10, 2014 – It stopped raining and puppies can go outside to play
November 14, 2014 – 11 week old puppies
November 22, 2014 – 12 week old puppies
Christmas
This is one of those examples when WordPress just messes things up. The photos used to be the same size but WordPress’ “New and Improved” whatever now has the photos at different sizes. Oh well. 😦
A New Year Started – January 2015 5 months old
March 1, 2015
REMCooks 
He’s gorgeous Richard. I look forward to seeing more of Jack. Our little white fluffy guy Monty is ten now and really slowing down…
Hi, Sandra. Thanks. We think he’s a real cutie. His mother is a UKC Grand Champion and the sire is a 2 yr old UKC Champion showing great promise. What type of fluffy white guy is Monty, another Coton?
Monty is a Bichon Frise Poodle X the best sort of boyfriend a girl could ask for. He never argues, makes few demands and always loves my cooking….
I love the Bichon. They are really cute dogs with a great temperament. We thought about getting one but decided on the Coton after much discussion. My grandmother got a Toy Poodle, Jacque, when my grandfather died. He was one of the sweetest, best behaved dogs I have ever seen. I can imagine how cute a Bichon/Poodle cross would be.
Previously, I had Weimaraner dogs and they were great. I really like the breed a lot. At this point in our life, we wanted a much smaller dog for a variety of reasons least of which is I (thankfully) no longer run every morning. Also, for 7 years I’ve told Baby Lady no dogs, I also told her no cats, no birds and no fish. Luckily, she doesn’t like scaly things like lizards and snakes. The life expectancy of dogs is always less than ours and I have buried too many dear friends (despite the city ordinances). She is persistence and I love her dearly. So, she won out. Now, we now have Jack. Cotons have a life expectancy of 14 – 18 years, so it’s a race to see if he can outlive me. 😀
Keep drinking red wine Richard and you’ll outlive ’em all…
Hi Richard, Lovely pups. We are very low rent over here. Our last two hounds came from the rescue centre. Love them to bits all the same. The previous incumbent (now buried behind the garden shed) hung around for 16 years. The present one has wormed her way into our hearts in a few months.
With the latest, we have implemented a strict ‘no table scraps’ rule. All are better for it.
Best,
C
Thanks Conor. I have had a couple of rescue dogs before and actually was looking for a Coton to rescue but we weren’t able to find one as they are a pretty rare breed here. We like the Coton because 1) it’s a small dog; and 2) it doesn’t shed and is hypoallergenic. As for no table scraps, that is a rule (along with no dogs allowed in the dining area during meal times) I implemented with all of the dogs many, many years ago. Of course, the kids did their best to sneak table scraps to them regardless.
Such is life. Now that ours are older, they have swung to the far side and attack one even if the spillage / inadvertent hound feeding is accidental.
Oh how cute! Congrats to the newest family member.
Thanks, Eva. We will probably go see him when he’s around 3-4 weeks old. 🙂
Good for you guys! Can’t wait to see mature pics! Happy Labor Day!
Thanks.
Oh I am so happy for you and Baby Lady. Jack will love his new forever-home!
Thanks. We updated the post and posted new photos when they were 3 weeks old. In a fit of temporary insanity overcome by unbelievable cuteness, we now bought both of them. 😮 Pretty soon they should start becoming little, white, fluff balls. 🙂
What a wonderful update with precious photos!
Congratulations! What a lucky dog! I doubt Jack could have chosen a better home.
Thanks, John. Baby Lady couldn’t stand to separate them so we bought both of them. This way they will have each other’s company and the move won’t be so hard on them.
So so cute, just beautiful …
Thanks, Lea. Everyone is really excited. 🙂 Check out the new photos.