(Afghan Hound Database and Breed Information Exchange)
With thanks to Sergey Mstislavovich Ivanov (smi454@mail.usask.ca) For the information and photo's on Kyrgzystan 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".  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 is 4 months old in this picture, she sadly died at the age of 5 months and was owned by Sergy. 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 is a bitch who used to belong to Sergy. The photo was taken last August (97) and she is a year old now and is owned by a friend of Sergy's in Bishkek. |