Taigan

The Taigan is the sighthound of the Kyrgyz mountains — a Central Asian coursing dog bred to run at altitude where thinner air stops other hounds.

History

It belongs to the Tazi family of Central Asian sighthounds and has coursed fox, marmot, badger and even wolf across the Tian Shan for centuries, often worked in partnership with a golden eagle. Kyrgyz keepers valued lung capacity above pure speed, because the work happens above two thousand metres. Numbers fell sharply in the twentieth century and Kyrgyzstan has run conservation programmes for it.

Temperament

The breed is known for being calm and undemonstrative at home and wholly committed in pursuit, attached to its own household and indifferent to strangers.

Care and training

It needs room to gallop and secure fencing; a sighthound in chase hears nothing. Training works through relationship rather than repetition. The coat, longer than most sighthounds' with feathering on ears and tail, needs little.

Health

Sighthound anaesthetic sensitivity applies; nothing else is widely documented, and a small population is the standing caution. These are patterns for the breed rather than a forecast for one dog; the measured facts are in the panel.