Heidi Petran and her husband, sent us some anecdotes regarding Mon Chéri, their little Coton de Tulear female. They live in USA.

Some anecdotes in the life of MON CHERI

MC is the sunshine of our life. She is smart, sweet, funny, adorable; she obeys most of the time and is 2 ½ years old. I never had a dog before in my life and I can’t see how I ever got along without her. We love her dearly. She probably is spoiled, but she deserves all the love we lavish on her.
She understands 3 languages. When it's time to eat, she understands English; when it is time to clean her teeth, it is in German (I say "Zahne putzen!" and she hops on the bed and shows her teeth; when she is naughty (only rarely) she understands Czech.

Mon Cheri’s first airplane trip

 

Last March we decided to fly to Arizona to spend some time in a warmer climate. It goes without question that our sunshine MC would accompany us. To leave her behind would cause too much separation anxiety for us. Since I was a first time ever and a new doggie mother, I wasn’t sure how she would survive for a long time without doing her business. I read all about not feeding her nor giving her water several hours before the trip. At the airport, I noticed that she had to go. Now MC is very fussy about her toilet habits. At home she never has an accident, because she knows I’ll always take her outside. In an extreme emergency she does pee on the newspaper located strategically throughout the house on each floor. She is always rewarded with a treat afterwards. The lounge was crowded with passengers. I noticed a gentleman reading a newspaper nearby and I asked him if I could borrow (I should have said if he could spare) some pages of his newspaper.

He gave me some and I spread the paper on the floor. I told MC "Pipi machen" (Remember she is trilingual). Within seconds MC circled a few times (her usual sign) and peed on the paper. All the people applauded her efforts and MC gratefully accepted her cookie and "good girl". And I got compliments on what a good and beautiful dog she is.

By the way, she did great on the trip and behaved like a little lady.

 

 

Mon Cheri goes to obedience school

I thought it would be a good idea to attend obedience school with Mon Cheri to see if she could learn the basics: sit, halt, stay, come, down, etc. We live next to a golf course and the classes were held outside near the clubhouse a few yards from our house. The first time, MC thought this is fun, Mommi is taking me for a walk and I can sniff and run. When we got there, she barked at all the dogs and they in turn barked back. She was the smallest. She wanted to run home. I guess she was afraid of the big dogs. The next sessions, the same thing. She did not even want to go. On the way there, she sat down in the middle of the street and put on the brakes. She would not budge. I had to carry her to class. She did enjoy all the cookies she got when she did the commands correctly. She was a quick learner. But always afterwards she couldn’t get out of class fast enough and ran home.

 

 

Mon Cheri and the golf course

Ever since she was a puppy, Mon Cheri loved golf balls. On our walks near the golf course, she would always find one and carry it home like a treasure. She would chew it and play soccer with it. One time last summer, near the 18^th hole one golf ball landed in the rough. We were walking there. MC spotted the golf ball that had just rolled there and immediately took possession of it. The golfer came running and yelled: "The dog got my ball", MC would not give it up and growled at him. The golfer had to relinquish the golfball to the "DOG TRAP".

While watching a golf tournament on TV, the golfer was putting. MC ran to the TV and wanted the golfball. Disappointed she went to her toy box and brought her own golfball to chew on.

 

Mon Cheri and her neighborhood

MC thinks she owns the entire neighborhood and does not allow anybody else or another dog on it. She barks loudly at everything foreign in her territory, especially cats and squirrels. On garbage days, when she sees the big bags and bins at the curb she is especially vociferous. "What are those big objects doing near my house?" .

At night, when it is time for her last walk, she goes in front of the door and vocalizes to tell everybody "I am here to wish you all a good night.

This winter we had lot of snow. At the corner, children had build a big snowman. As we got near it, MC slowed down and was afraid to go by. And of course she barked tremendously. I had to lift her up, approach and smell the snowman. Each day as it got smaller, MC would still growl at that strange creature. She never did get used to it.

Of course by now, her loud behavior has been corrected. Not completely, but it is a lot better.

The barking is the only fault MC has. Otherwise, she is a perfect little princess. Maybe someone can give me some pointers to control the barking?

 

Mon Chéri and her girlfriend

Mon Cheri’s girlfriend is called Lady. She is also a coton who lives around the corner. They are the best of friends. MC will not play with any other dog. (She has good taste, right?) In the summer they run, chase each other, wrestle on the lawn; in the winter, inside. Of course, MC always wants to be the boss. Lady has such a sweet, gentle nature that she lets her be number 1. It is funny to see them, because MC is petite and Lady has a larger frame.

When we come by her house on our daily walks, MC sits down and will not move till she sees her Lady. (Did I mention that she is quite stubborn?) When their garage door is open, she knows that Lady is at home and she runs to the door. Inside, Lady does her own crying act till she is let out. Her owners already know which cry is her MC cry.

Lady can be let outside without a leash and she will not run away. MC, no way. Once I had just put her down on the ground to put her leash on. In a split second, she took off to chase after a large poodle who had invaded her territory. She ran on the street between cars . Everyone, Lady too, ran after her. A neighbor finally contained her by talking to her and she barking back at him. By that time I had reached her. She got a scolding and was grounded for 2 weeks.

 

 

Mon Cheri loves to watch television

One of her favorite activities is to sit in the Lazy Boy chair with me and watch television. Her favorite channel is the Animal Channel. She runs to the big screen, stands on her hind legs and cries, sighs or barks. She has a variety of sounds to express her pleasure or displeasure. She invites the dog or lion or kangaroo to come and play with her. In her excitement she switches the channel or turns the TV off with her paws. Then my husband talks to her in Czech (the language we use when she is naughty) and she reluctantly retreats and hides behind me for protection. Many times she just sits in front of the screen and watches. We sat through 6 hours of the Westminster Dog Show from New York. When she accidentally turns off the TV, she immediately demands with a headshake to turn it back on.

When there is fighting or violence in a show, she protest loudly by barking.

 

 

Mon Chéri goes to the library

I like to take MC with me in the car wherever possible. One reason is to improve her social skills. We always go to the library early in the afternoon when it is not crowded. We do not want to disturb the other patrons. The librarians love to see her and fuss over her. Of course, to bring a dog to the library is not allowed, but she is the exception. Once the head librarian was there when we came. She too was won over by her charm. When I mentioned I was looking for a video with a dog as a subject, all three were trying to outdo each other in recommending a movie. "Oh, let me see if we have Beethoven I", We have Beethoven 2 at the other branch, but we’ll have it send over. Would you like Benji?" etc. Now, MC gets a phone call to let her know a new animal movie has come in and if they should hold it for her. BENJI THE HUNTED is her favorite movie. Once while watching that movie, we turned it off to eat dinner. MC was crying and shaking her head at the TV: "Where is my Benji? Turn it on! NOW!"

Mon Cheri at the computer

MC always accompanies me to the computer. Usually I go to several websites on cotons to get tips and looks at the pictures. MC sees the photos and she cries and sighs and barks at the cotons . She stands on her hindlegs and tries to reach the screen.