Taigan is an indigenous breed of domesticated predators. Kyrgyz people think that Taigan is not a dog and it has never been a dog. Taigan is a hunter, guard and a friend of nomad. There is a Kyrgyz saying, which reads, “When Taigan is running, the blood is gushing from his ears”.
The word “taigan” means “catch and kill”, which precisely reflects the character of the animal.
His other name is Kumaiyk, which means “Master of dogs”.
Taigan does not bark and is indifferent to strangers. But he is a perfect guard, which keeps the cattle, first of all from predators, at the same time he will always defend his handler, if attacked by a wolf for example. If the cattle is stolen, Taigan will find thieves. Taigan cannot be sold or exchanged. It can only be given or ….stolen. This is a tradition, which cannot be changed among true experts of this breed and hunters. Taigan has always been a member of a Kyrgyz family, because he was not only a guard, but also a feeder of the family.He used to have his own place at home, near the host of house. In old times, rich people built a separate hut for Taigan, such was his status! It was not necessary to teach him hunting, he knew it on his own. If you look at him – it is a rather phlegmatic animal. By day time he sleeps somewhere in a secluded corner, he prefers hunting at dusks or early night. A pure-breed Taigan is priceless, because now it is very rare. There are practically no pure-breed species these days. In exterior, it has features either of the Afghan Borzoi or Central Asian Taza. But Taigan’s blood is very strong, and it is not late to restore its original image. But it will take more than fifty years of selective work. It was started by Ruslan Aytaliev, head of the section on restoring Taigans of the Chui-Bishkek society of hunters and fishers.

 

There are many legends about Tigans. It is known that he is not scared of wolves, but he will never attacks directly. Due to his exceptional deftness, he tears a wolf’s tendons of its hind legs and then finish it off.
Belek Soltonoev, who lived in the 19th century, wrote a book, which was entitled “The Kyrgyz People”.  In his book he wrote, “In the At-Bashy village, one man went hunting with Taigan. In the mountains, they suddenly met a bear. The bear attacked the hunter. It would be the end for the hunter. But his faithful Taigan came to his help. He started to pull the bear on its neck. An immediate confusion of the bear let the hunter to recharge his rifle and shoot.

 

We were driving to the house of a nomad named Toktogul Japarov, who lives in the Kur-Kondoy canyon. The man was said to have a perfect female Taigan named Uchara. The place is just 50 km from Bishkek. But the asphalt road soon ended, and the signs of civilization ended as well. At the bottom of the slope, a small house of a nomad was located. There were other semi-destroyed constructions around. No electric wires, they were stolen long time ago. There were only scrapes of electric wires on the rickety poles. The nomad’s wife had brought some pressed dung – this is the only main energy carrier. Her first question was, “Have you brought newspapers?”
My guide Ruslan gave her some. The host said, “There is no electricity here, no TV, no radio. She reads newspapers at the light of an icon-lamp.”
- Where is  Uchara? – asked I.
- She is either sleeping somewhere or she left for hunting by herself.

Toktogul whistled. “She is running somewhere, but she will come soon”. It did not take long time. While we were drinking tea, Taigan appeared from somewhere and greeted her master by wigging her tail gaily and looked at us watchfully. I managed to take photo of her. The Taigan was not interested in us. She was sitting near the host’s feet for a while and then ran away. Probably she had some urgent things.

A GIFT TO THE MASTER
 
There are many stories about Taigan. Maybe not all of them true. But according to those stories, hunters adore these four-legged helpers. Taigans grow fast, usually when they are 6 months old they start hunting by themselves. It is said that there is no need to feed Taigans, they are able to feed themselves. Some people think that Taigans should not eat raw meat, but others think conversely, they think that raw meat will keep them from illness. Some people think that Taigans are peaceful by day and are aggressive by night, that they are not  only perfect inborn hunters, but also good guards of houses and cattle. For example, Satar Koenbaev from Arashan village, who has been dealing with Taigans for many years, said that Taigan becomes a guard if he is trained in his early years. Then really, neither wolves nor thieves are dangerous. And while a man hunting, Taigan can guard a carcass of a wild goat – he will not let anybody to touch it.
Satar recollects when his taigan named Sherkhan brought a carcass of a wild goat at home by himself. That was a gift to his master.

 

Ruslan Aytaliev narrates:

In September 2001, I gave a puppy of Taigan named Kuchum to the commander of the National Guard of KR General Chotbaev. He did not keep it in the city, because it needs open space. He sent it to his relatives to the village. Last summer, thieves took cattle from the General’s relatives. Early in the morning as soon as they discovered the loss, the farmer got on the horse and commanded Kuchum to find traces of the thieves. Taigan understood the command and headed for Kazakhstan. The chase lasted for hours, finally the thieves were caught and the cattle were returned home. After that, the General asked to give him a female puppy of Taigan so that to have posterity.

I OWE HIM MY LIFE

Toktogul Japarov, a nomad narrates:

I have always been close to Taigans. My grandfather, Sherimbek Bayzakov, used to keep Taigans. He was a well-known hunter. I think that there is no better friend than Taigan.  He is not only kind and tender with children – he is like a family member. He is very cultured. He will never jump on the table even if he is very hungry. He will never leave you in trouble. There is no more brave animal than Taigan. He is not scared of foxes, porcupines, wild boars or wolves. Taigan is the best guard, because if Taigan is at home – a wolf will not attack the cattle. He has a good ear. Other dogs may just bark at a wolf or even hide, while Taigan will not give up. He has his methods of attack – he will never attack straightly, knowing that he is weaker than a wolf, he does not grab a beast at a throat, he tears the beast’s tendons of his hind legs. Taigan wins due to his deftness, speed and shrewdness. Once I had an incident. I was hunting and found a wolf’s den. The wolf’s cubs were hidden under the stones in a hole. I could not reach them. Then I crawled into it, but I did not realize that the pass would be so narrow. So my whole body was stuck there, except for my legs, they were outside. I could not move back and forth. What should have I done? It was useless to cry for help. Nobody would hear. I was thinking that when a wolf came, I would be done. Taigan was with me. Of course she would bring the help but when? Before the help comes, a wolf would eat me up. While I was thinking that way, my taigan snatched my pants and started pulling me out. Although I weigh 80 kg, taigan managed to pull me out. Later I looked at the traces near the den, and saw that the she-wolf was within 20 meters. So if it was not for my taigan I would not be with you now.

"Komsomolskaya Pravda" on February 28, 2003