The standard advocates that the lips should preferably be tight and of the same colour as the nose, specifically black in the Coton de Tulear Club of America standard. A Coton de Tulear's teeth can be either in a scissor bite or pincer bite. Its eyes are normally round, dark in colour, and wide set. Traditionally, the expression is lively, intelligent, bright, and merry. Typically, the Coton de Tulear's ears are triangular and set high. Luckily, these are still relatively uncommon in the breed. The small gene pool of this breed is owing to its near extinction. Due to inbreeding by disreputable breeders there is an increased incidence of disease. The smaller the gene pool, the more likely a breed is to have genetic abnormalities. The Coton is of the Bichon dog type, linked most closely to the Bichon Tenerife and the Tenerife Terrier. There have been many stories circulating about the history of the Coton in recent years, most of them untrue.