Taigan

[Guest Vladimir]

Taigan is an aboriginal sighthound breed from Kirghizstan. This dog is used to hunt mountain sheep, wild goat, northern lynx and wolf. These dogs have persistence and courage comparable to those known in Terriers and Scottish Deerhounds. It is very strong, fast and aggressive at hunting. Now, it became a national breed of Kirghizstan. They sold a few, not necessarily the best, dogs to foreigners, but this breed does not fit life as a couch potatoe and, occasionally, lure coursers. I believe they would be great for hunting roe deer in Scotland and they would catch hares as well. Their potential for obtaining new types of lurchers and staghounds is untapped.

Why so much attention to the tail? This breed is related to Saluki, but its tail is short, carried always up, no furnishing on the tail, especieally at its ending half, like a rat's tail, but it should form a ring or semi ring at the end. I understand this dog would be a delight to dog groomers. Perhaps, they would shave the end of its tails for a show occasion. Would they?

Edited November 25, 2007 by Vladimir

[Guest shaheen]

Take it these are the same breed?,photo taken in Kirghizstan.

Edited November 25, 2007 by shaheen

[weejohn 3]

what size do these grow to? imagine picking all the burrs out of that coat

[Guest joe ox]

The taigan looks like it has a very athletic frame underneath that thick coat.

[Dawn B 212]

Looks like an Afghan Hound. All the old ones looked like that, they are supposed to be very "sparsley" feathered on the tail with a ring at the end of it.

[Guest Vladimir]

Take it these are the same breed?,photo taken in Kirghizstan.

Yes, I guess so. The Taigan is big and exceptionally athletic and it is different from teh Afghan Hound. Here is another picture. Is coat was the only reason why I did not start this dog in my kennel. We hava all kinds of burs here. The Saluki became my first choice.

Here is an excerpt aout Taigan hunting habits from original article by Vladimir Shakula:

"During hunting, the Taigan uses different methods for catching animal. In many literary sources in Russian, one can find literally the same expression: “The Taigan is used for hunting foxes, corsac, marmot, badger, wild cat and hoofed animals. A pair of strong Taigans adjusted to hunt together can stop a wolf†(Pilshchikov and Mazover, 1973; Markanov, 1933; Matveev, 2000). In general, that is true, but I would rather maintain that the major objects of hunting with Taigans are mountain hoofed mammals and wolf. A Kazakh hunter can enjoy watching his sighthound coursing a fox on the open steppe to satisfy his love of the sport. It is very different, when hunting in the mountains. Hunting in the mountains is not just for fun, but rather arduous work for both the hunter and his dog. When hunting in the mountains, regardless of the ethnicity of the hunter, the Kazakh, Kyrgyz or Russian would not make his horse and dog suffer in vain because of a fox or a marmot pelt. Catching a mountain goat or sheep and bringing home 50-100 kg of pure quality meat is a different matter. My opinion is corroborated by the behavior of the dogs themselves. Take a closer look at what Taigans or Tazys are doing when they hunt on the plain. A good experienced hunting dog often plays with the animal they catch. Our Taigans, when they sight and catch a fox, they toss it high in the air or they kill it by breaking the backbone. Sometimes we saw how a fox was laying on the ground after it had been stopped and shaken by the dog and the Taigan was sitting nearby and even looking away from the game. The animal regained consciousness and tried to run away. The Taigan allowed it to run as far as 20 meters and then in a powerful dash it tossed the fox up again. This resembles the way a cat plays with a mouse it has caught and condemned to die. Our three Taigans treated jackals in a similar way. Unlike with the fox, they did not toss jackals but stopped them by biting their hind legs hard and killing them by biting the throat. I have never seen such playful behavior among Taigans in the mountains. "

[mackem 25,345]

Vladimir,are the marmots there the same as those big orange things over in Xinjiang,the ones the Uigurs shoot sometimes?

[Guest Vladimir]

Vladimir,are the marmots there the same as those big orange things over in Xinjiang,the ones the Uigurs shoot sometimes?

 

Yes, they are the same, two species of marmots very common across Central Asia. Natives do not feed Taigans in the summer; the dogs are catching and eating fat marmots. Even females dig their own dens and raise puppies on their own.

Their livestock guarding dogs live a similar life, not fed in the summer; dogs scavenge for afterbirths, catch small mammals and marmots are a very important natural supplement in their diet.

[Guest reload]

Excellent stuff, cheers for posting this Vladimir

[Dawn B 212]

Good read Vladimir, i enjoy reading your posts about the different Hounds.

[mackem 25,345]

Vladimir,are the marmots there the same as those big orange things over in Xinjiang,the ones the Uigurs shoot sometimes?

 

Yes, they are the same, two species of marmots very common across Central Asia. Natives do not feed Taigans in the summer; the dogs are catching and eating fat marmots. Even females dig their own dens and raise puppies on their own.

Their livestock guarding dogs live a similar life, not fed in the summer; dogs scavenge for afterbirths, catch small mammals and marmots are a very important natural supplement in their diet.

Those marmots are huge Vlad,they look like giant orange hamsters,a terriermans wet dream,I bought a hat made from one once at Kashgar market as a piss-take

[Paid 935]

Love hearing about these rarer sighthounds from you, and others :-)

 

Do they have summer, and winter coats, or are they shaggy all year ? and do you have any more pics?

 

Love to see one shaved

[Guest Vladimir]

Love hearing about these rarer sighthounds from you, and others :-)

 

Do they have summer, and winter coats, or are they shaggy all year ? and do you have any more pics?

 

Love to see one shaved

 

I thank everyone for the interest. I am fascinated with those aboriginal breeds and wanted to share the information with you here. Paid, I will ask them specifically and post what I will get from them in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, how they manage this awful looking coat of their dogs.

[roystoncrankted 1]

that looks a serious piece of dog

[Guest Vladimir]

About Taigan's coat. This is a high altitude mountain sighthound. His coat is growing thicker in winter and particularly around feet, protecting them from injuries, when the dog is running on rocky terrain. By the summer, the dog is shedding and during physically active life, its coat is not causing problems. They have all transitions from Taigans to Tazy. In lower mountains and mountain foothills, there are lighter colored forms of the Taigan.