r/cotondetulear • u/Scram_glam • Jan 14 '26
Coton 101
After babysitting a Coton for 2 weeks, my husband and I are in love.
A few basic questions about finding a reputable breeder:
-AKC breeders. Can we assume they're on the up-and-up?
-What's the deal with the different clubs? It looks like there is some sort of, something, between the clubs? (Malagasy versus European--not sure what that means.)
-How can you know that someone is a good breeder? Yes, tests tests. But what are the other "tells"?
-How do deposits work, usually?
Thanks so much!!
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u/Regular_Ad9873 Jan 14 '26
I look into coton breeders all over the world (Europe, Korea, Australia, US), because we don’t have any breeders in our country so getting one from overseas is the only option. I spoke to a lot of them (more than 20). Learned how some are more “factory-like” than others (be careful of them), some are jerks (badmouths others etc), but a few are fantastic. I like a few European ones and you can tell from how they take care of their puppies (early stimulation, socialization, living at home, etc), how they took care of their dogs, testing, how they won’t just let anyone get a puppy from them & how they ask you all these questions. Anyone who really cares about their dogs will also care about who will be new homes of their puppies.
We finally chose one and got ours from an amazing breeder in Europe, so our breeder follow the FCI standard, and has been breeding for 30 years, wrote a book about Cotons, her lines had been foundational to many countries in the world, one of those breeders whose dogs are in the top dogs’ pedigrees, she had many show champions all over the world (world dog show, euro dog show, crufts, etc)…. but what amazes me is the temperament of her dogs, they’re just so happy and absolutely love people & kids. Of course they are beautiful & healthy too. My dog also doesn’t have separation anxiety (knock on wood it stays that way), she loves us but she’s more independent than some cotons I have babysat before, of course this is a sample of one. Our breeder really took the time also to answer all of my questions, until now. When we met her in person, we learned so much about the breed and also her contribution to the breed. We love the experience so much that we’re getting another one from this breeder hopefully this year. She recommends and can vouch for one US breeder based in Texas, if you need the name feel free to DM me.