Pictured below are three photos of Taigans from Kyrgyzstan.
The word "taigan" (pronounced [ Tie-gun]) means in Kyrgyz
"swift, fast", and the breed has got another name "Kirgizskaya
borzaya" which means in Russian "Kyrgyz borzoi" or "Kyrgyz
greyhound".
"Grey"
"Grey" is a dog, (photo taken two years ago) and he
is the champion of a dog show held in 1995 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He belongs
to Eduard Iskhakov of Bishkek, who owns his mother as well.
In Kyrgyzstan there is a sort of kennel of the hunting
breeds with the Taigan section in it at a hunting club located in Bishkek.
Unfortunately, now in Kyrgyzstan there are no kennels breeding the Taigan as
it is usually understood. Breeding is basically conducted by some enthusiasts,
who, however, have not formed any well equipped kennels so far.
"Dora"
Dora is 4 months old in this picture, she sadly died at the
age of 5 months and was owned by me. Dora was a half sister of Grey, they have
the same mother.
There are two main regions in the country where the breeding
of the Taigan has been traditional and where the native people of Kyrgyz
nation still breed the Taigan and hunt with him - The Talas oblast and the
Naryn oblast. However, the breed can be found throughout Kyrgyzstan and in the
immediate post Soviet countries in Central Asia - Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
In those countries, there is another breed resembling the Taigan named Tazy,
but relatively smooth haired.
Actually, as you probably know, the Tazy resembles the
Saluki very much, whereas the Taigan is similar to the Afghan hound,
especially to the so-called aboriginal Afghan hound, but still is quite
different in many features. In northern part of Kirgizstan (Chu oblast), there
are a lot of cross-bred dogs with the appearance resembling both the Tazy and
the Taigan at the same time. Rada is from such dogs; she has a long coat in
the winter which is exchanged with almost smooth one in the summer. The
feature to loose long coat in the summer is, more or less, very characteristic
of all Taigans, but in some of them it is pronounced clearer.
"Rada"
Rada is a bitch who used to belong to me. The photo was
taken in August-97 and she was a year old and now is owned by a friend of mine
in Bishkek.
