Small companion dog with soft cotton-like white coat, charming personality and cheerful temperament
Originated as royal dog and companion to nobles in Madagascar, developed from small white dogs brought by traders. Named for city of Tuléar and recognized by FCI and AKC as beloved adaptable companion breed
Males typically weigh 4-7 kg and stand 25-28 cm at the shoulder; females 3.5-6 kg and 23-25 cm.
“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”
Quoted from FCI standard n°283. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; McMillan et al. 2024, median age at death. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
FCI standard · Coton de Tulear
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged permissible.
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
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Base colour
White
Shortened from FCI standard n°283 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What a judge marks the Coton de Tulear down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Coton de Tulear in general; any individual animal can differ.
No breed-specific health panel has been written up for the Coton de Tulear on this platform yet. That is a gap in our records, not a clean bill of health — ask the breeder which hereditary conditions their lines are tested for, and ask to see the results for both parents, dated and from a named laboratory.
This is where Coton de Tulear owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
No Coton de Tulear breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.
