2012 FEATURED COTON de TULEAR BREEDER
My Coton Breeding Program
by Danielle Gauthier / Amour de
Cotons Information
My name is Danielle Gauthier, I am a nurse and my breeding story starts
while I was in nursing school. My daughter wanted an English Bulldog. This
was in 1983 and we lived in New Jersey. I asked around, researched the dog
magazines. I also had the idea that anyone living in our household had to
earn their keep.
It turned out that Charlene and Jos
Seabo lived in a town next to mine, they had the most superb kennel and were
infinitely patient with me. They agreed to part with a young female and
agreed to become my mentor. There began my learning curve. Dog training, not
a problem. But breeding an English Bulldog (Artificial Insemination) and
delivery (C-Section) was totally unexpected. This all occurred while I was
studying OB/GYN so I thought I was prepared. Not so.
Emergency delivery at
Philadelphia Veterinary School at 2 AM… then a lesson in bottle feeding
because mama would not take care of her progeny. Goats milk, then burp each
puppy, etc. This was the ground floor work. Her name was Crash and she gave
me a Crash course.
In 1985 I
moved to Philadelphia on a 4th floor apartment and I was still bitten by the
breeding bug. This time I determined to focus on a breed I felt had
retained its reason for being and could have natural puppy birth. I adopted
Kasha, a female Great Pyrenees. Kasha's pedigree was handwritten by Carolyn
Hardy, a top judge and owner in the world of Pyrenees. I contacted Carolyn to
discuss the lineage (Karolaska and Quibbletown) which I knew to be gorgeous
dogs. She kindly became my mentor and before I
left Philadelphia for NC in 1990 I found my wonderful Ryatt, my first male
Pyr. I
bred Pyrs from 1985 until 2008. During the last 7 years I spent some
time in the show ring and took Magnus to his Championship and his
granddaughter placed 4th in Puppy Sweepstakes at the Pyr
National in 2006.
But after back surgery that year, I realized if I wanted to continue to
breed my own dogs, I had to change my breed and
my career.
(Click
Coton photos to enlarge)
The birth
of Amour de Cotons was a slow seed. During the last year in the show ring, I
would examine the small breeds being shown. Nothing was tempting. About
1996, the cover of Dog World had this wonderful, fluffy white puppy. I found
out it was a Coton De Tulear and loved what I discovered about the Coton.
Fortunately, my Pyrs get along wonderfully with the
Cotons, as you can see. Here's Tinkerbell on the right. She's
standing guard over Birchie, one of my Cotons.
Loyal,
real hair, little shedding, funny, cozy, grooming YES (oh well) but a real
BARK. No yelp!!!! And the Coton has great health, sturdy, intelligent,
from Madagascar originally and standardized by the French, even used in the
circus by the French. Not so good, I prefer them as companions, but it
means they can be trained.
So I began
to research and tried to find a Coton De Tulear breeder who would have
adults and puppies. I finally found a couple in the Virginia Area. My
heart got stolen by a little female, the Coton breeder and I agreed to
breeding rights. Unfortunately, I had found a Madagascar/French mix,
taller, different hair. Not enough research, expansive mistake. Spayed her
and continued to research.
Because of
my knowledge and love for dogs, the most important thing to me is the
temperament and health. The conformation of the dog is of course relevant.
My
first show Coton
was Niko
(at right). He came with an impeccable pedigree that matched his superb Coton
personality! That little ball of white fur had more regal bearing than any
puppy I had ever met. He was a true tribute to his champion bloodline and to
his father Reggae.
I soon
found beautiful mates for Niko. They would compliment his temperament and
pedigree. Maila, Juliette and Camelia arrived at 6 months intervals. I
could better assess each of their personalities and attributes this way.
And
what wonderful individuals they are! Maila
is a clown, Juliette
is a diva and Camelia owns the world. The girls are also descendants of
wonderfully successful bloodlines.
As my
Coton family matured to their respective 2 years of age, each had to be
certified in these areas: patellas, eyes, heart, hips, complete blood work
and for Niko a DNA analysis. I feel it is very important to comply with the
Code of Ethics of United States of America Coton de Tulear Club (USACTC) and
the American Rare Breeds Association (ARBA) registry.
28 years
of breeding and my clinical background make me very comfortable with
delivering litters nevertheless, a litter of Cotons seemed like a little
miracle.
Perfect little Coton replicas and well stamped by daddy. Mommies
were treated to home cooked meals. And how wonderful that the smaller area
needed for whelping was a welcomed benefit to this previous breeder of Great
Pyrenees. Two of my Pyrs still guard the property against predators,
vultures, hawks, and
bears.
I continue
to dream of improving this line. Niko continues to produce and imprint the
babies well. Our reputation for quality and true type Cotons is well
supported by return clients who have expressed so much joy and happiness
from their puppies. Of course they have great health and tons of
socialization, and then are carefully screened for a perfect personality
match.
Our goal
is to produce show quality Cotons even though we focus on personal companion
babies. Amour de Cotons is at a crossroad as we have finally kept two girls
to evaluate for our breeding program. True, this means that we are
evaluating kennels, looking to find a new baby boy Coton to join our
family. We are hopeful about finding as wonderful a Coton as Niko. I am
patient.
Channing
(at right)
is one of the baby girls I have kept, she is showing all the potential of a
winner in the show ring and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. First she must
go through all the health and structural certifications. I hope to see you
there, in the ring.
Amour de
Cotons welcomes you to visit and meet the parents, we are located in
Virginia. I am always happy to chat and educate others about Cotons De
Tulear as well as discussing criteria for adoption and explaining our
contracts. Call 540-347-5318 or email
grandmamandg@aol.com
http://www.thedogplace.org/BREEDS/Coton/MBP-Gauthier1104.asp
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