Dog Breeder Of The Fun-Loving Coton de Tulear

Welcome to Yankee Cotons in Delaware

Being a dog breeder isn’t easy but it is immensely satisfying. After 30 years experience breeding shelties, I am now segueing to the coton de tulear. So if you are looking to have a coton join your household, you can find dogs or puppies for sale here.

For me, the goal has always been to maintain good health and to improve the breed so it is important to get as much information on each dog as possible. No dog will ever be perfect. Not every dog will have every medical clearance normal. The tests are used to make as informed decisions about which dog to breed to which bitch. 

Temperament and health are my two biggest concerns.

Of course, one has to take into consideration the nature vs nurture interactions. Maintaining health is an ongoing process over the course of the dog’s lifetime. 

One of the basic means we have to begin sorting out this puzzle of how to produce great cotons is medical clearances, another is to follow the breed standard. 

There are several tests that can be done at various ages to see how healthy each coton is.

You may ask: If humans don’t test to determine their own genetic worthiness before having children, why should you have to do it for dogs?

Answer: Because we can and because if we do, there may be fewer families stuck with sickly dogs.

What Medical Clearances Are Done?

Each breed has its own set of medical problems. Screening can alert us to some of them. Many diseases however, do not have a specific test.  

Coton breeders have the following medical clearances that can be checked:

• hips
• eyes
• thyroid
• cardiac
• patella luxation
• hyperuricosuria
• primary hyperoxaluria
• vonWillebrand’s disease
• degenerative myelopathy
• Bandera’s neonatal ataxia
• canine multifocal retinopathy
• chondrodystrophy and IVDD Risk
• progressive rod-cone degeneration

Some of these tests are genetic DNA tests. Do them once for each dog and you are done. Research continues to find additional DNA markers. Others need to be done periodically during the coton’s life as there is no specific gene to pinpoint as the culprit. So blood levels or physical exams are needed. 

But There’s More For Dog Breeders To Do

Aside from the daily “grunt work” of care and feeding of a pack of dogs, breeders also need to put in extra time and effort during the pregnancy and whelping process of their bitches. The subsequent eight weeks of raising puppies takes organization and time as well. I’m constantly re-visiting the way I take care of them. 

Better Business Bureau

I also do something I don’t think any other breeder has done and that is to belong to the BBB. Knowing that breeders have generally gained an unsavory reputation, whether deserved by their own actions or contrived by animal rights fanatics who would like us all dead, I figured it was an objective third party assessment. 

The local chapter manager actually visited me to see for himself what they were approving which apparently doesn’t always happen when applying for membership.

Understandably, people want something substantial and substantive to make a determination as to who they choose to buy a pup from. So feel free to go to my membership page of the Better Business Bureau to see reviews. I joined BBB when I was still breeding shelties, hence the references to Yankee Shelties you will see on my pages there.

Building An Information Hub

In addition, perusing the pages of this website should also give you a idea of who I am. Since this website is new, it will take time to add pages about all the subjects I’ve dealt with regarding my dogs (not just coton de tulears but dogs in general). But if you stop by occasionally you will see this site grow.

It will take time because I really prefer to write my own material rather than sit back and see AI slop fill these pages. Besides, learning the back end of building a website is always a challenge for us old folks.

On The Lighter Side

After having done this for many years, I feel obligated to warn people who are thinking about becoming breeders what they are in for:

1. You will have rooms that resemble a car wash interior
2. You spend more money on dog grooming products than your own hair.
3. You spend more time and money researching what your dog is eating than yourself.
4. You will never have carpet. Your furniture will always be fake leather so you can wipe paw prints off it easily, no tufting on the cushions because that makes it tougher to wipe down, short legs so the puppies don’t scoot underneath and tear the underside apart, and metal legs whenever possible to prevent chewing the wood
5. You will be driving a van
6. If you show your dogs, you will be wearing grubby clothing through the week and dress suits on the weekends (with pockets only for treats to bait the dog)
7. Vacation ?? You can’t because you can’t find or trust a dog sitter.
8. You develop a heightened sense of hearing (why are the dogs quiet? Why are the dogs barking?).
9. I often say that the dogs don’t live in the house with me, I live in the kennel with them. 
10. The average length of time someone sticks with being a dog breeder is 5 years. It isn’t as easy as everyone thinks it is.

On That Note, Here’s An Old Joke About Dog Breeders

A man owned a hobby kennel in Texas. The Texas Wage & Hour Dept claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him.

“I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them,” demanded the agent.

“Well, there’s my handler, who’s been with me for 3 years, I pay him $600 a week plus free room and board. The kennel help has been here for 18 months and I pay her $500 per week plus free room and board. Then there’s the half-wit who works here about 18 hours a day. He makes $10 per week and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night,” replied the breeder.

“That’s the guy I want to talk to; the half-wit,” says the agent.

“That would be me” replied the breeder

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(Unfortunately, I don’t drink anymore. Bummer.)