r/cotondetulear

Before she jumps in the lake

Bunny Rabbit kind of gets overshadowed by her brother, so I wanted to share her with the community. She’s a really sweet, neurotic 5 year old girl that I was lucky to adopt from a rescue when she was 3 months old. The breeder didn’t want her as she had a heart murmur that is now undetectable. She attached to me immediately. We adopted a Maltese puppy just over a year ago. She dotes on him like a mom, but ultimately, she runs the house. She is extremely smart. I am so fortunate to be her dog mom.

We got our Coton puppy a Cavapoo!

Phoebe (Coton) is 20 weeks old. We got her about 4 weeks ago at 16 weeks old. We also bought Willa (Cavapoo) about the same time, but we could not take her home until she was 10 weeks. We finally got to bring her to her forever home last week to meet her big sissy!

We lost 2 senior dogs (litter mates) in the past 12 months at 14 years old. I’d been telling my wife for weeks that I’d do anything to argue over whose turn it is to walk the dogs again. She started looking at puppies out of curiosity one night a few weeks ago and told me if we ever get another she would like a Coton. I personally was leaning towards a Cavapoo. Not a big deal because we both agree that two female puppies were a must if/when we were ready. Since her interest was peaked I spent my lunch break the following day calling breeders. The Coton de Tulear breeder had one female left that wasn’t spoken for as did the Cavapoo breeder. Called the wife and her response was “could we go now?!?”. About 2 hours later we were bringing our Phoebe home and had left a deposit for our Willa.

She told me a third puppy is absolutely out of the question! We’ll see how firm she holds!! Either way, my heart is once again full!!

Our companion of 14 years, Lotte, passed away today. She was 16 years and 1 month old.

I first met Lotte at the Coton breeder. I did what I normally did: laid down on the floor and cuddled all the dogs. There were 7–8 dogs there, so honestly, laying down was the best option for greetings. The breeder suddenly became a bit hysterical and asked if I had petted Lotte. I had no idea. I had just cuddled all the dogs, like I usually did when I visited.

Apparently, Lotte had been returned to the breeder by her previous owners, who did not seem to know how to handle a puppy. They kept her awake so she would sleep at night, took her on long mountain walks,  and she would bite anyone who tried to touch her head.

I probably did pat her on the head when I greeted the pack. I have no idea. But I did not get bitten. Some time later, I went outside for a smoke, and Lotte, the “dangerous dog,” stood outside the door complaining and wanting to be with me, almost howling.

And that is how I ended up with my own Coton.

The breeder did not really want to keep her, and I paid the equivalent of around 200 USD for her, more or less a symbolic amount for a purebred dog. At that time, I was just about to move in with my girlfriend in our own flat, so Lotte stayed with the breeder for a while before I could finally bring her home.

She was more work than I expected. Lotte was not a ready-made family dog. She was clearly a rescue dog. But after a lot of hard work, patience and training, she became a great family dog.

Her previous owners had taught her the basics, and she was eager to learn. In training, she was actually somewhat easy.

We took her everywhere: bus, train, car. She would lay her head down, let me take control, and stay still until we arrived. In that way, she was an amazing dog.

She did snap at people who tried to pet her, even when we warned them: “Do not touch her head.” The people who claimed they were “dog people” and had dogs their whole lives were usually the ones who got snapped at by Lotte. Especially older men with moustaches. We always suspected something had happened with an older man before she came to us, because the pattern was too obvious.

Kids on the other hand do take instructions from the owner and it was totally fine..a lot of treats and a lot of cuddles. So on every walk, for everyone who wanted to pet her, we handed out treats and ordered them to sit down and not touch her head.

A couple of years went by, and gradually she became a normal dog, one who could be petted by other people.She did not play with toys, unless she was in heat. Then she would only play with a Half-Life Headcrab. I think we went through at least 4-5 headcrabs.

Lotte was always happy to see us. She sneezed repeatedly and smiled, always ready for an adventure. She was my steady companion when I drove from south to northern Norway. She would just lay her head down and wait until we arrived at our destination. 30min or 19 hours..she did not mind at all.

After some years with just Lotte, we decided to get another dog, a Yorkshire Terrier. By then, Lotte was already an old lady, and having a young dog around was a bit of a hassle for her. She was happy to go on walks together, but she was not interested in playing.

In the last couple of years, her eyesight slowly got worse, and she had a small lump on her belly that grew slowly but steadily. We moved from an apartment to a house with a yard. Walks became more of a daytime thing because of her poor eyesight, and slowly but steadily she became content with sleeping on the couch, eating, and just being with us.

Last year, for my birthday, I got a new Coton puppy. I am glad we did, because the loss of Lotte hit me harder than I thought it would. We buried her in our back yard, so she is never far away from us. It is a strange thing coming home now and not to hear Lotte sneezing when you arrive home, but there is another Coton, who is always glad to see you and it would have been too strange not having a white dog around the house. . 

Rest in peace, you magnificent, strange, goofy dog Lotte. We love you.

This old boy is spending the week at my place. Always a pleasure.

I thought was not needed to say but coton originally was some survived dogs from a commercial ship during golden age of piracy in Madagascar. My dog probably is the mix of coton not a coton, technically is not a coton but same of coton.

He came after my preview dog, a pure breed cocker, we don't know actually if he is generically a maltipoo or a maltese but the result is a coton... he is 30cm tall and 40cm long since I was used to a 38,30cm cocker I'm happy he is not smaller since I do love forests and too small would be a problem but is small enought for bike (we go everywhere with him) now would be ok a middle size too but more tricky.

He is genuinely cute, happy, rascal but most important he respect my rabbits which are his old brothers... especially Lucky the rabbit I had grew by myself and who was used to my old 15 years old blind and deaf cocker. I think since he came after some months after her she was still smelling her parfume so I guess he grew insciously thinking she was there so... is kind of having her heir.

He is pretty smart too, unluckly I was used to a cocker so I need to understand he is not a cocker but it is not his fault, LOL Is fun when I say "search" and he watch me like "owner I don't care about searching stuffs but I want play" definitely interesting.

We tought he could be everything from a maltipoo to a maltispitz to a maltiterrier... but he is a coton.

Cute, looong, fun, love other animals.

But most important CHER is my role model and I was shocked to got same breed of her!!! As for my cocker was random for me, I wanted a australian shepherd instead a cocker then a pug instead a coton which I didnt knew had exist and they told me was a maltese! We bought/adopt him at 6 months and now he is 15 months and he just want to stay with dogs! LOL And that's fun, my preview dog hated other dogs... both are amazing with human, him a little less.

But I definitey can say I'm so luck with animals... my family is actually made with amazing animals!

Lilibet’s 10 months old now, she’s no longer a baby… she’s a BIG baby now 😂 She’s our first ever coton, and we can attest that they’re the sweetest and best dogs. It’s been great to learn how different dogs have different personalities. Our dog before her was an american cocker spaniel who lived till 16 years and 10 months old, she’s so different to Lilibet. Lilibet is hilarious & has a sweet personality, she loves people, but at the same time she’s also picky & takes a while to warm up to some. Aristocratic in some ways, she walks around like she owns the place and needs her alone time. She’s not what I would call velcro, she will only come to you as she wants. She loves to play & is doing really well in training. She can do around 12 commands pretty well (only with treats lol). Best decision ever to get a coton!

Lilibet’s favorite activity when it’s raining cats & dogs outside! 😂

She is a bundle of joy. 13 months old and fabulously cute and loyal.