Coton De Reunion

This extinct breed, with a long, cotton-like coat, was the ancestor of the well-known Coton de Tulear of Madagascar. The small island of Runion lies 500 miles (800 km) to the east of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean. It was settled by the French in the I 7th century and has been under French control for most of its history since then. It is therefore believed that the little Coton de Runion dog was first taken to the island from France, as a companion for the elite among the French settlers in the coastal capital of St-Denis. From there it was taken to the trading port of Tulear in the south-west of Madagascar, where it reputedly interbred with small local dogs to create a new companion breed now know as the Coton de Tulear. With the opening of the Suez Canal in the late 19th century and a shorter trade route between Europe and the Orient, Runion lost much of its commercial importance and before long its little luxury dog had also faded away (although whether any canine expert has searched the more remote settlements on the island for surviving examples is not clear).

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