Pure Bred Perfection

Ok. Do some of you already have your backs up? My dog is perfect! My dog isn't a purebred. Who do you think you are you pure bred snob! Yes, the preference for 'mutts' over purebreds and vice versa is definitely a controversial topic and way of being in our relationships with dogs. Why buy a dog when there are so many in need of a home? Please bare with me all and don't bare your canines prematurely. 

All dogs are beautiful; you are right. All dogs are best buds to their human companions. But, as a visual artist and an obsessive aesthete, purebreds can take on the status of sculptures. Indeed, like it or not, they have been sculpted over the centuries to attain, well, a particular construction of perfection. They are a result of culture and are intricately connected to human history, their construction as a specific breed spanning back often hundreds of years and, whether you think it's right or wrong to manipulate canine traits through breeding, this intricate connection between the human and the dog is darn interesting.

Meet the most imperial Coton de Tulear. They are a Bichon-type breed and their history is somewhat mysterious.

Jewela, Kintana & Fatiana "Imperial Cotons"

We do know that the Coton de Tulear are the national dog of Madagascar (Wow! That's pretty interesting. I have always wanted to go to Madagascar). 

Over the centuries, the Coton de Tulear have graduated from a pirate ship to a Barbie pool!

The Coton's ancestors were possibly brought to Madagascar in the 16th and 17th centuries aboard pirate ships. Whether the dogs were brought along to control rats on the ships, as companions for long voyages, or were confiscated from other ships as booty no one knows. 

Regardless of how or why they got there, these friendly, silky dogs were favoured by Malagasy Royalty and only they were allowed to have them ... poor commoners, no Cotons for you :(

Princess dogs indeed. Jewela and Fatiana seem destined to perch atop a vanity. 

Tulear is the French name for the Malagasy town Toliara on St. Augustine Bay and French colonists. Not only did the French change the name of the town (couldn't they say and spell "Toliara"?), they understandably took a fancy to the epic regality of these dogs and brought them back to France. Today, the breed is being revived from extinction and, because they are so rare, they are pretty darn pricey. A Coton de Tulear puppy can sell for $3000. Some things never change: poor monetary commoners, no Coton for you!

Fatiana's summer-time portrait. Is she an exquisite creature, or what? 
And such a sweet, loving disposition. 

King Kintana. What poise; what a princely disposition. He is, indeed, one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever encountered.

Lorna Christie of “White Pearl Cotons” in White Rock is currently preparing to breed Jewela (hailing from Belgium, dontcha know) and the princely Kintana. Jewela isn’t even ‘with-puppies’ yet and there is already a waiting list! Apparently, people are more than willing to pay $3000 for a exquisite Coton de Tulear.

Kintana & Jewela. Soon to breed. I can't wait to meet their puppies! 

Sure can't afford one (yet) though :(

Then there are the Havanese. Oh my …

Mosey. He is a perfect Havanese. You really can't take a bad picture of this guy.
He is Peggie McRobbie's dog of Chilliwack's Cinnabar Havanese. 

Mosey in the studio. Yes, I must admit, I do add to the perfection ... he did have some hair in his eyes.
Perfection and the highest quality Dog Art is Karen Moe Photography's Branding. It gives me so much pleasure to create and participate in Beauty ... hmmm... my next Blog Post maybe: 'On Beauty'.

Some say Havanese are a cousin to the Coton. The Havanese is also said to be a Bichon type breed.  

As the Cotons are the national dogs of Madagascar, the Havanese are of Cuba. They developed from the now extinct Blanquito de la Habana ("little white dog of Havana"). The Blanquito descended from the also now extinct Bichon Tenerife, which was introduced to the Canary Islands by the Cubans. (What a journey!) It is believed that the Blanquito was eventually cross-bred with other Bichon types, including the Poodle, to create what is now known as the Havanese.

Babette. What a Beauty. Peggie McRobbie's lovely female.

Babette in studio. Look at her perfect fountain-tail and slipper feet .... And the sheen of her hair in the studio lights ... Ahh ... and her sweet smiley face ... 

Political events led to the total disappearance of the old bloodlines of the Havanese in Cuba (Hmmm … could that have been the Cuban Socialist Revolution?). Apparently a few dogs were successfully smuggled out of Cuba whose descendants have survived in the U.S.A. 

Even though I would have been on the side of the Revolutionaries, I am sure glad some of those 
who left brought along a few of their adorable lapdogs.

 (This is Nelson, one of the 6 Havanese puppies I photographed this month for breeder 
Salida Del Sol in Langely BC.)

Now, the Havanese are one of the most popular family and companion dogs. Not only are they super-cute, they possess a spirited personality and have a saucy spring in their step, they are gentle with children and love human companionship. Don't you want one? 

This is also one of the puppies I photographed this month. It is one of my favourite dog portraits ever. Note how the back ground is another puppy? With the same markings? The frame is filled with puppy: both foreground and back.

My sister-in-law's Havanese is named Molly. She is about 10 now and has become a bit set in her ways ... like a 45 year old woman, perhaps, who enjoys putting her feet up and sipping a glass of wine after a hard day. Alas, Molly does not have this kind of predictable tranquility. There is a 4-year-old in the house who treats her like an inanimate doll and carries her around under her arm in some most awkward positions. But, Molly, even though she can look a bit woe-be-gone, doesn't flinch or growl, even though we know she would much rather be curled up on her little dog bed.

This is my Dogs & Kids promo poster for this summer featuring Elizabeth 
(my niece) twirling around Molly ... 

And, can they ever run! It is amazing to watch such a small creature virtually fly through a field. No fragile lap dogs are they (although they are lovely lap friends as well). 

This puppy is gracing the cover of Suzanne McKay's of Mimosa Havanese 
in Winnipeg forthcoming book on raising Havanese puppies: "Pawprints".

Suzanne calls this shot "Run like Hell"! And, Havanese sure do!

Zoom-Zoom Babette!

So, to pure bred or not to pure bred? To mutt or not to mutt? A choice for sure when you are getting your canine chum. Despite my left-wing-save-the-world-and-all-of-its-oppressed-creatures politics, I acknowledge one of my contradictions (admit it or not, I believe we all have them. And it's OK), I fall in the former category. Yes, Ingrid (my mutt-loving sister), I do. When I can afford one and have a dog where I live, I choose Havanese: they are fun, frisky, and devoted. I love their eyes, their licorice noses, their fountain tails and their slipper feet. There, I confess. Nobody is perfect; except, of course, all of our dogs :)

Oh Mosey: I can never get enough of you! Those are some fine slipper feet!

And, 'a bientot' (sorry, no accent markings in this Blog type)

from The Coton Party!