Coton de Tulear

The breed developed around the port town of Tulear (now Toliara) in southwest Madagascar, most likely descended from small European ship dogs that jumped or were carried ashore and mixed with local street dogs over several centuries. Isolated on the island, the type settled into a distinct small white dog with a soft, cotton-like coat, kept largely by Malagasy nobility and eventually by ordinary households as a house pet rather than a working animal.

Living with a Coton is easy in most respects. It is sociable, follows people from room to room, and generally gets on well with children, other dogs and even cats introduced sensibly. The coat looks high-maintenance but is single-layered and does not mat as readily as a Bichon's if brushed two or three times a week; owners who let it go a fortnight without a comb will find felted patches behind the ears and under the legs. It is not a yappy breed by nature but will bark to announce visitors, and separation from its household for long hours does not suit it.

Today the Coton remains a minority breed in Britain, imported mainly from French and American lines from the 1970s onward, and recognised by the Kennel Club in the Toy group. It suits owners after an intelligent, portable dog that wants to be included in daily life rather than left to entertain itself, and it does reasonably well in flats provided it gets a proper daily walk plus games at home.