Dasha's Story
What follows is Jules' Saga of how Dasha came to be ours...
My fascination with the Taigan breed began back in August of 2011 during a visit to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. While horseback riding with local Kyrgyz acquaintance, Bolot pointed out a Taigan hound. He explained how special and rare the breed is and how they also represent a symbol of national pride. After watching the hound effortless race through the tall grass and hills I was hooked. It was almost as if he could fly – at times all four paws being simultaneously off the ground.
After returning to Germany I began my quest to acquire a Taigan of our own. This quickly became a daunting challenge as there was little information available on the internet, particularly in English. I reached out to Bolot whom in turn inquired at local pet stores and with local pet owners. As it turns out, there were not Taigans to be had, at least not any puppies. He was eventually able to at least get a general pricing that was in the range of USD $3000. Alas, there were none available regardless of the price. I subsequently came across some information that touted the breed as “The dog that could not be bought.” That turned out to be true in at least a few cases that I have second hand knowledge of. The first person I heard about having been “gifted” a Taigan was a high level military representative, while the second was an Ambassador.
Not to be deterred, I continued my search. I was able to locate some information about owners in Russia and Poland. Using Google Translate I composed various e-mails and sent them off to contacts I learned about via the internet and eventually received a reply. The woman from Poland (http://tulpar.pl) recommended I contact the CBT tourism board in Kyrgyzstan. Gulsana from the CBT was quite friendly, but did not have any concrete information for me. I ended up receiving a lead that directed me to the Russian National Taigan Club (http://taygan.su/). That single resource led us to the final leg of our journey as we were put in touch with our breeder Oksana (http://vasartborzoi.com/). I asked her to please keep me in mind if/when a litter became available. That was in September of 2012. In February 2013 Oksana sent me an e-mail letting me know that her bitch had just had a litter of nine pups. We picked her out of a set of photos and after some very complicated communications we were finally able to complete the transaction for the dog that could “almost” not be bought!
It was a harrowing experience at times, but in the end we are so happy to have a beautiful and healthy Taigan of our own. We named her “Dasha” meaning “Gift from God.”
My fascination with the Taigan breed began back in August of 2011 during a visit to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. While horseback riding with local Kyrgyz acquaintance, Bolot pointed out a Taigan hound. He explained how special and rare the breed is and how they also represent a symbol of national pride. After watching the hound effortless race through the tall grass and hills I was hooked. It was almost as if he could fly – at times all four paws being simultaneously off the ground.
After returning to Germany I began my quest to acquire a Taigan of our own. This quickly became a daunting challenge as there was little information available on the internet, particularly in English. I reached out to Bolot whom in turn inquired at local pet stores and with local pet owners. As it turns out, there were not Taigans to be had, at least not any puppies. He was eventually able to at least get a general pricing that was in the range of USD $3000. Alas, there were none available regardless of the price. I subsequently came across some information that touted the breed as “The dog that could not be bought.” That turned out to be true in at least a few cases that I have second hand knowledge of. The first person I heard about having been “gifted” a Taigan was a high level military representative, while the second was an Ambassador.
Not to be deterred, I continued my search. I was able to locate some information about owners in Russia and Poland. Using Google Translate I composed various e-mails and sent them off to contacts I learned about via the internet and eventually received a reply. The woman from Poland (http://tulpar.pl) recommended I contact the CBT tourism board in Kyrgyzstan. Gulsana from the CBT was quite friendly, but did not have any concrete information for me. I ended up receiving a lead that directed me to the Russian National Taigan Club (http://taygan.su/). That single resource led us to the final leg of our journey as we were put in touch with our breeder Oksana (http://vasartborzoi.com/). I asked her to please keep me in mind if/when a litter became available. That was in September of 2012. In February 2013 Oksana sent me an e-mail letting me know that her bitch had just had a litter of nine pups. We picked her out of a set of photos and after some very complicated communications we were finally able to complete the transaction for the dog that could “almost” not be bought!
It was a harrowing experience at times, but in the end we are so happy to have a beautiful and healthy Taigan of our own. We named her “Dasha” meaning “Gift from God.”