Would you be able to ascertain 5% of your dog’s body? Coton de Tulear owners and breeders are called upon to do so.
While the #AKC breed standard calls for a white coat, a mixture of white and light tan hairs is permitted, but only on 5% of the body of an adult Coton. These light tan shadings can appear in one area of the coat, or they can be scattered throughout the coat, but they can’t be so dark or deeply colored as to alter the overall appearance of a white coat. Anything beyond this is a severe fault in a Coton over 12 months of age.
Coton de Tulear by Schiraki
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I can’t imagine how you could determine that, especially if scattered throughout! Makes me appreciate that the whippet is “color immaterial”! These are very cute little dogs though.
There are those (ok, us) whose eyes glaze over at the sight of percentage signs and fractions. Were we to judge a Coton, we’d have to start by imaging what 50% of the dog looks like in a different color. From there, we’d imagine 25%, and then guest-imate at 10%. From there, we think, “Ok, half of this 10% if the magic 5%,” and by then the dog would have passed out from boredom. “Color immaterial” has a definite attraction!
as a rule of thumb it’s not that bad. Some scattered light tan or a spot would be ok. I would imagine something the size of a dime for a Coton. And of course, solid white avoids the problem.
Thanks for the clarification, Peggy!