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gailrolfe

igloochic--I just read about Killer

gailrolfe
15 years ago

Igloochic, I was just reading some old threads and came across the one where you said you had just bought a coton de tulear! I too have a coton and I know Michelle from Tia Cotons, via telephone, that is. She helped advise me when I was researching the breed. My Bugsy is now 4 years old, I showed her for 3 years and got her Master Championship; then I immediately brought her home and clipped that coat off! I love your name, Killer...I call Bugsy my "attack rabbit". They really are a fun breed, though a bit high on maintenance. So now I know you not only have great decorating taste but good taste in dogs as well LOL. We have a few other things in common, too, I think--ex-banker and my first son was born when I was 43! Anyway, just wanted to say I hope you're loving that little furball and if you have any questions as you go along, feel free to ask and I'll share what I can with you. Gail

Comments (14)

  • california_dreamer
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have no idea what made me open this thread-
    But my parents have 2 cotons as well! Maybe this rare breed isn't so rare after all.
    They are adorable little dogs. I love that they don't shed!
    :)

  • gailrolfe
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    ca dreamer, do you know where your parents bought their cotons? This so called 'rare' breed doesn't really qualify as 'rare' anymore but we get to keep pretending because we haven't registered as AKC...and of course one of the better arguments against registering AKC is to keep the dog from becoming even MORE popular! Most of the coton owners I know despaired when Barbara Streisand and some other celebrity went on tv with their coton....I think they thought we could keep them a secret! But a really good test of someone's desire is to describe the grooming requirements that come with that wonderful 'no-shed' characteristic....while I was showing Bugsy I couldn't cut her so it was easily 1 hour a night. She's clipped now, much easier. The best part is her funny personality--I really think she can understand about 90% of what we say. She's very very smart--and also very very stuck to me which sometimes drives me crazy. When they say companion dog, they mean it! :-) Here's Bugsy the day she won her USACTC championship--we were a happy team!

  • california_dreamer
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'll have to ask my mom where they got the dogs. I think it was a breeder in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I think they are both about 10 or 11 years old now.
    My mom has always kept the dogs clipped but I know she still spends quite a bit of time grooming them.
    They are so smart! We have a male & a female. The male acts like a little circus dog. He is so silly. My kids adore those dogs!
    Your Bugsy is adorable.
    Here's an old photo of my dd with one of the dogs.

  • gailrolfe
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Two of the largest long-time (and well-respected) coton breeders are in the Dallas area so I wouldn't be surprised if she got them from one of them. Both of them are actually on the board of the USCTC. Your daughter seems awfully pleased to have that little fluff ball on her lap...they really are so much fun and like you said, many of them really have clownish personalities. Bugsy makes us laugh several times a day. A lot of coton owners say you can't have just one...and I almost took a second when Bugsy was still young. Even now I sometimes think of it, but she is such a velcro girl that I'm afraid the second would be no company for her and just a second velcro attachment for me! As it is I experience a ridiculous amount of guilt when I have to leave her alone for very long!

  • igloochic
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh it's fun to have more coton owners here :) In Alaska, he's about as rare as they get...there are three of them here (Barrow, Fairbanks and us in Anchorage). People ask what he is and I say the name to the standard response.."A what?" heh heh

    Killer (his call name...his name if we choose to pimp him out is Kilroy of TiaCotons) is turning out to be a wonderful family member, though he's still having house training issues...but it's getting better. He's also had two illness since he came home...one from wolfing down a soft raw hide (he had bloody diarrhea for two days and had to have an IV to keep his fluids up) and then he went through another unexplained bout of diarrhea. Funny thing is...our son had chronic diarrhea for two years...now they're both on the same medication!

    We are going to let Killer's hair grow and grow, until he goes to the Canadian national show, which will be held in...oh heck some town on the boarder in July. We'll let Killer try for a ribbon or two :) Since his daddy was a bit winner this year. Then....yes it's tempting to have that hair cut LOL

    Actually, so far,since his hair isn't as long as full grown, he's not too bad to deal with there either. He visits a pro groomer monthly (he's only gone once so far but we have them scheduled) for the big grooming, and I bath him with our 2 year old (which is a hoot for both of them).

    He's a little doll though :) I've been joking about him flunking puppy school (those labs are kicking his bumm when it comes to sit and stay) but fortunately he's the teachers pet LOL I figure if he can make it through life cute and stupid....well heck it worked for Paris Hilton didn't it :oP

    We're planning on making him a therapy dog. My way of giving back to the world after spending so much time in the hospital with my little one. Dog day was always so important. The mood on the wing after the dogs left, and before they came...it was amazing. No body every coded that day...no one ever died, it was a happy day. Dogs do a lot for sick kids hearts and souls!!

    Anyhoo, we adore him, and Michelle is a doll. She really knows her breed!

    Here's Killer with his stuffed elephant (they sleep together in his kennel at night):
    {{gwi:1549966}}

  • gailrolfe
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Igloo, how did you find out that there are only 3 cotons in Alaska? I know it's a very small world down here but I would think it would be hard to get connected up there without shows or that kind of get-together ops. I think we all get the same reaction, "A What?" but more and more often I run into people who do recognize the breed. Is Teddy Killer's daddy? If so, Killer might be a nice big coton as the last time I saw Teddy he was a big boy.

    Don't let that soft fluff he has right now fool you...once the second coat starts growing, you will probably have to brush every day; if you're very lucky and his coat is easy, every other day. I was a bit cavalier and it seemed like Bugsy grew two huge mats behind her ears overnight right before a show! During that 9 to 18 month period, the matting was amazing.

    Will you handle Killer yourself or will someone train and show him for you? I haven't been to the Canadian show but it has a reputation as being a very fun show with lots of social activity post-show. I hope you'll let us know how he does. It's fun to think of cotons in Alaska...I think Bugsy would probably love it there as she really fades in the SoCal heat...you'd think with a Madagascar background she could do better but I guess it's too long ago!

    Here's Bugsy in all her glory as a puppy...a good example of the fading gene.

    Anyway, welcome to the coton world.

  • igloochic
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I should have said three registered Coton's. :) We do have a very active UKC here as well as AKC.

    Kevin is Killer's daddy. He wasn't huge and mom is Kya, she's not a giant either...so we'll see...he's grown quickly, but is beginning to slow down a bit. I guess we'll weigh again on Friday since he's sick again :o( And has to go see his new vet.

    I'm in puppy school with a confirmation judge (she's the teacher). We will work with her on the show training and she'll be at that show as well. We have thought about doing more shows than that, but since they all are "outside" (What we call anywhere but alaska because it's the center of the world in our mind) we probably won't be professional show folks. If my son were healthier we might do more...but as it is, it will be a fun vacation for all of us to go visit one.

    The coton's that are here apparently love the snow. We'll see how Killer does. He's whining already in the rain LOL

    Your Bugsy is gorgeous! I wanted a tri, but we just couldn't find one, and Killer was everything else we wanted in a Coton (we were concerned about bad breeders, mixed breeds, etc). He's potentially breedable...and most likely not to become a little stud (because I have enough work in my life) but we will let Michelle breed him if she desires and if he meets the criteria.

    He is such a dear...but I will say (and this might just be me today) that this diarrhea thing...our third bout, is kind of annoying :o( For him and us!

  • gailrolfe
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ooh, I'm kind of embarrassed, igloo...I just did the same kind of stupid comment about Alaska that Californians used to make to me when I first moved here from Colorado. One said to me, "but what do you DO there?" as if there were no life in the middle of the country! And here I am assuming there's no dog shows in Alaska! I guess that was based on my show experience which was ARBA and IABCA, mostly, and I never saw Alaska listed on their schedules. I was unable to make a UKC show ever but a number of my colleagues regularly participated and really like them because they are (at least theoretically) solely for owner-handlers, no paid handlers allowed. There are very few in the rare breed shows compared to AKC but it is growing...I think the Canadian show will probably have a few. But the main thing is just to get out there and have fun doing it! I never intended to show when I got Bugsy; the breeder just asked me to bring her to a show the next time she was close by and when I did, she showed her and she won and the next time she went running out of the ring in the middle of the show because she had one of her own dogs to show and threw the leash at me and said, "go finish it for me"....yikes...but I got hooked and spent more time and way more money than I ever planned during the next three years, determined to finish her championships. I did and it was a good experience that I'm glad is over! (I have a feeling I'll feel the same way about kitchen remodelling when it's done!) If you can believe it, towards the end, she was criticized by some breeders and judges as having too much color...her puppy color shows through the white in the form of a few stray red hairs as you can sort of see in the first pic. (She's the one in front with me in pink. Really red,eh?) I love the color also and for awhile really toyed with getting a black and white. Almost waited for a puppy of Tomi's.

    I tried my hand at breeding...that was the ultimate goal of the title. Jumped through hoops and bred her to a great stud and everyone was very excited about the match...then both puppies died in delivery. It is a long story but the vets think she just has a very low tolerance for pain...sad end to that chapter but at that point we decided to go back to focusing on her role as our family pet which was the original intent and it's been great.

    Kevin is gorgeous, I think Killer will be too. In his pic, it looks like he may have pretty straight hair which is nice. I'm glad you had the sense to go to a good breeder; I know a bit of Michelle's history in her early years with the Coton and she struck me as very ethical and honest. I'm rather concerned about Killer's diarrea though too....so far what are they saying? What does he eat? I know a few cotons for whom pancreatitis has been a problem which requires a diet change...while sick just rice and boiled chicken then slow move back to limited dog diet. Diarrea is a big sign of that but I think it is usually accompanied by vomiting also. Keep at it though...one rarely hears about sickly cotons so I'm pretty confident you'll discover a cause/cure. Hope he's better soon.

  • rbsohio
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Igloochic - I think that is so nice that Killer will be a therapy dog. I know how much it means to the kids - definitely takes some of the "sting" out of a hospital visit!

  • vineyard
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    gailrolfe, what a small world! DH and I used to show with ARBA, IABCA and Rarities beginning in 2002, more in 2003 and a lot in 2004. Here are some photos I took of Quincy, my favorite Coton (and a great friend of our Cane Corso, Romeo):

    These photos were taken by me back in 2003; his handler's name in the photos is Tracy and those are her two beautiful daughters helping hold the USACTC Specialty awards. After knowing Quincy, I thought I'd love to have a Coton one day...but for now, I'm in love with my Corsos (and I also have a white Persian cat, so I have my "fluffy white fix" with her!)

    Aloha,
    Leilani

    Here is a link that might be useful: Romeo, #1 Cane Corso 2004 (also #4 Rarities Dog 2004)

  • gailrolfe
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Vineyard, what a small world! Yes, there continues to be a large group of Cane Corsos as well as a few other very large dogs that show at ARBA and IABCA...when Bugsy and I walk by, I always wonder if the big dogs look down at her and think she's a little scoop of ice cream or something they could just scarf right up. But she just barks and barks at them, if I let her...as if to say "just cuz I'm small, don't think I'm not tough!" It always cracks me up. I don't know very much about Cane Corsos but I do know that we had a very steep learning curve when we got Bugsy as we had never had a "companion" dog before and it is different. Since her only "job" is be my companion, she never really leaves my side and doesn't have much interest in doing anything without me...very different from the pointers and retrievers I grew up with! But she's smart as a whip, scarily so, and very sweet so we've made the adjustment...and they are big clowns--make us laugh at least once a day. Are you no longer showing?

  • vineyard
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We haven't shown pretty much since we bought our lot in 2005...since then, we've been pretty engrossed in the whole planning-and-building-the-house thing (and right now, we're about 1-2 months away from completion!) Also, we've achieved so much with Romeo, it came to a point that semi-retirement made sense before a chance of one of us getting burned out from the dog show scene could happen. He's TDI, CGC, ATTS-TT, a Multi/Master/International and Breed Club Champion and 2 pups from his 1st litter became Champions as well. Maybe when things settle down a bit, we'll take him out to a few local AKC shows (the Cane Corso is now in the Miscellaneous Class) just for kicks.

    Some Cane Corsos have quite different temperaments than ours, though...I remember seeing a couple of them bite and snap at the judges in the show ring before and some lines are prone to having temperamental issues. Although I wasn't fond of some of the unfortunate behavior some Cane Corsos represented for our breed, I did enjoy introducing Romeo to the public, to show what a great example a Cane Corso can be. Anyway, the Cane Corso is not typically dog-aggressive and usually doesn't have issues with the smaller breeds (they don't look at them as a threat), but if another dominant breed attacked them, they wouldn't back down.

    I love the fact that the Cotons are clowns and it's so true that they make you laugh! Quincy used to "play" with Romeo by doing a complete sideways body flip and that was highly amusing to Romeo, so he'd just lay there and watch. He loves Cotons and I think he also has a thing for Pugs!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Romeo del Morgan's Home Page

  • gailrolfe
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, vineyard. It looks like you got a really nice dog for your first show dog! That's great. I was lucky also in that regard but with a young son at home I just couldn't keep up the showring pace that would have allowed Bugsy to become as accomplished in the showring as I think she deserved--but it was a great experience and I met so many nice people. It's interesting what you say about the Cane Corsos though--I remember that some of the owners of the larger breeds sort of looked like aggressive temperaments might have been their preference and it was a little intimidating although I always tried to remind myself that I shouldn't judge a book by its cover :-)
    One of the fun things about the rare breed shows is seeing and meeting the variety of dogs I'd never heard about before. Sometimes I even dream about trying my hand at obedience, rally or agility--I think Bugsy might be quite good at any of them--but then I remember that I really do have enough on my plate for now! Like the kitchen....:-) It sounds like you might be finishing up about the time demo starts here. Poor Bugsy is not going to like having those workmen in her house--guess I'll load up their pockets with treats for a few days! By the way, I'm going to try to email the pic of the coton and handler you posted to Bugsy's breeder and see if she knows the coton...I'm betting she probably does, it's such a small world in coton-land. I know exactly the move you are referring to when you mention the coton trying to play with the CC...they all do that. Bugsy has a few other ones that crack me up--like when she's in the grass, sometimes she suddenly rears back as if an earthworm has just poked its head into her nose. It is so funny. We go outside to watch her run around sniffing just so we can laugh at her! Anyway, got to get to bed...I'm a typical dog person...love talking dog. :-)

  • vineyard
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We really enjoyed showing and even bought a motorhome to travel to shows as a "family" (little did we know it came in handy to live on-site during our build!) About some CC owners, I wasn't going to mention it first, but now that you brought it up...yes, I agree with your statement "some of the owners of the larger breeds sort of looked like aggressive temperaments might have been their preference"! Honestly, the worst thing about our breed is the fact that a lot of "wrong" owners have them. :(

    Anyway, if you ask Bugsy's breeder about Quincy, I think his real name was Sassafras-something or vice versa (Quincy is just his call name). He's owned by the nicest lady I know in WA State, her name is Sandy. I think he was the #1 Coton in 2003?

    So the flip is a typical Coton move, huh? SOOOOO CUTE!!! If you ever videotape that or the earthworm move, I'll be your biggest video fan! ;)

    The cutest Corso move is something Romeo's son Cyrano does...I call it a "self-induced forehead massage" because he'll press his forehead either against you or on his doggie bed, then he'll twist it like a figure 8 again and again and again and again. Hilariously sweet!

    From another typical dog person who loves talking dog,
    Leilani

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cyrano's web page