Taigan Names, Kyrgyz Sighthound Dog Names

The Taigan is the mountain sighthound of Kyrgyzstan, a swift and hardy coursing hound bred by the nomads of the high Tian Shan range along the Chinese border. Its name simply means hound in Kyrgyz, and it belongs to the same ancient Central Asian sighthound family as the Tazy and the Saluki, sharing a distant kinship with the Afghan Hound. What sets the Taigan apart is altitude: it was made to hunt where the air is thin, coursing its quarry across slopes two and three thousand metres up, where lesser dogs would falter.

Lean and athletic like all sighthounds yet tougher and more weatherproof, it carries a medium-length, slightly wavy coat with handsome feathering on the ears, legs and tail, in white, fawn, grey or black. It runs down hare, fox, badger, wildcat and marmot, and the boldest will face ibex, roe deer and even wolf -- and in the great berkutchi tradition of the Kyrgyz, the Taigan hunts in partnership with a trained golden eagle, the dog on the ground and the bird in the sky working the same quarry. After the upheavals of the twentieth century the breed grew desperately rare, and it survives today thanks to dedicated preservation work.

Hardy, intelligent, independent and quietly devoted to its hunting partner, the Taigan is a working hound first and a companion second. Names can celebrate its blistering speed, its mountain home, its hunting craft, or its feathered coat. Its sighthound pace suits Dash, Bolt, Arrow, Comet, Blaze, Streak, Ace, and Zephyr; the high peaks suit Storm, Sierra, Aspen, Tundra, Glacier, and Avalanche; its hunting heart wears Hunter, Scout, Ranger, Chase, Hawk, and Talon; and its coat suits Snow and Ivory for white, Fawn and Tawny for sand, or Slate and Onyx for the darker dogs.

Explore our full collection of Taigan names below. Filter by gender, save your favourites, and find a name as swift, hardy, and devoted as the eagle-hunter of the Tian Shan.