How to Tame a Taigan
When approached to write a brief article about raising my Taigans in the city, I welcomed the opportunity. Nearly daily people stop to take me to task over how wrong it is to raise big dogs like mine in the city. This makes me switch on PR mode and try to sell them on the idea that I really am not being cruel to my dogs. And Vienna is probably one of the best cities in the world to attempt to tame my Taigans. There are doggy parks located everywhere! With and without fences, land is set aside in every district for dogs to meet, greet and play.
Taigans are a primitive hunting breed of dogs that at first blush might seem completely unsuited to city life. They have no regard for traffic, and in Vienna there is plenty of that. They are hunting dogs that are easily attracted the birds and furry animals that fly and scurry everywhere. But if you have the time and the inclination, the Taigan can be a great city dog and, as I said, Vienna is the perfect city in which to try it!
Taigans are a primitive hunting breed of dogs that at first blush might seem completely unsuited to city life. They have no regard for traffic, and in Vienna there is plenty of that. They are hunting dogs that are easily attracted the birds and furry animals that fly and scurry everywhere. But if you have the time and the inclination, the Taigan can be a great city dog and, as I said, Vienna is the perfect city in which to try it!
First, as a city dweller with no garden for the dogs to frolic, we have to go outside. A lot. In fact, we take four to five walks a day, some short and some longer, logging anywhere from 3 to 5 miles weather permitting. That’s probably more walking (or in Taigan terms—stalking) than many country dogs get to do when penned up in a garden. And walking with your dogs is probably the best way to spend time together. So much is communicated through walking, such as how to greet people (or ignore them), how to react to other dogs and how to wait patiently while I go in and shop for their favorite treat, Leberkaese. We have explored all along the Danube Canal as well as parks like Augarten and City Park. Where the dogs are welcome, we go! Some evenings we walk to the Rathaus or the Hofburg Palace. My dogs have become a part of so many curious tourists’ vacation photos.
Now Taigans are different from other sighthounds. In addition to their great speed, Taigans have stamina. That means, they are not sprinters like their Saluki and Greyhound counterparts; rather, they are marathoners. So people are quite justified in their concern about my pups not getting enough exercise. Nobody runs a marathon every day—but we certainly train for them. I have found that two to three off leash walks a week where they can run full tilt and play and wrestle gets them sufficient exercise. The rest of the long, frequent walks seem adequate to keep my Taigans fit, happy and healthy.
Usually we go to a dog park at least four days a week for the dogs to play, run and socialize. Because we have at least four in our immediate vicinity, we go to different ones each time. Since dogs are welcome on public transportation, as long as they are leashed, muzzled and ticketed, this opens the city up for us even more. Twenty minutes by streetcar we can arrive directly to the dog beach at the Danube Island. Thirty minutes from home we can reach the Vienna Woods. Here the dogs can also walk unrestricted and have a fun romp. There is a wonderful and large off leash area in Vienna’s famous park, the Prater. In fact, every time I take the muzzles with us on a walk, the dogs get excited because they know we are heading someplace fun!
Just outside the city is a racing club for sighthounds that welcomed us and our Taigan with open arms. The Wiener Windhund Rennsport Verein (WWRV.at) is located in Unterseibenbrunn, a suburb of Vienna. Here the dogs can train on Saturday afternoons, guaranteeing at least two runs each week where our pups can unleash their hunting beast and chase a lure around a track. It’s rewarding for us when our dogs participate in races. Our female has won three international solo titles (of course she couldn’t lose since she was the only Taigan participating)! Fingers crossed that more Taigans will flood Europe!
Usually we go to a dog park at least four days a week for the dogs to play, run and socialize. Because we have at least four in our immediate vicinity, we go to different ones each time. Since dogs are welcome on public transportation, as long as they are leashed, muzzled and ticketed, this opens the city up for us even more. Twenty minutes by streetcar we can arrive directly to the dog beach at the Danube Island. Thirty minutes from home we can reach the Vienna Woods. Here the dogs can also walk unrestricted and have a fun romp. There is a wonderful and large off leash area in Vienna’s famous park, the Prater. In fact, every time I take the muzzles with us on a walk, the dogs get excited because they know we are heading someplace fun!
Just outside the city is a racing club for sighthounds that welcomed us and our Taigan with open arms. The Wiener Windhund Rennsport Verein (WWRV.at) is located in Unterseibenbrunn, a suburb of Vienna. Here the dogs can train on Saturday afternoons, guaranteeing at least two runs each week where our pups can unleash their hunting beast and chase a lure around a track. It’s rewarding for us when our dogs participate in races. Our female has won three international solo titles (of course she couldn’t lose since she was the only Taigan participating)! Fingers crossed that more Taigans will flood Europe!
Wheter one raises Taigans or terriers, a lot of time has to be spent in training and socializing puppies. With our first Taigan (which we acquired while living in Frankfurt), we enrolled her in weekly doggy obedience classes that were in German. Since I am not a fluent German speaker, a lot was lost in translation. When we got to Vienna, we decided to hire an English-speaking cynologist to assist us with obedience and recall training at least bi-monthly.
Beware, if you are looking for a dog that is easily broken or slavish to its owner, the Taigan is not for you. Of course, they are dependent on me for everything, but I cannot expect them to fawn over me for every little nicety that I provide. Instead I am welcomed home for an absence much like any other dog, and that is about it for the cuddle factor. They will tolerate stroking and petting but not indefinitely. Additionally, getting them to come on command is challenging, but it can be done with a lot of work patience and perseverance. And they can be really wonderful with kids!
Beware, if you are looking for a dog that is easily broken or slavish to its owner, the Taigan is not for you. Of course, they are dependent on me for everything, but I cannot expect them to fawn over me for every little nicety that I provide. Instead I am welcomed home for an absence much like any other dog, and that is about it for the cuddle factor. They will tolerate stroking and petting but not indefinitely. Additionally, getting them to come on command is challenging, but it can be done with a lot of work patience and perseverance. And they can be really wonderful with kids!
One must never, ever use anger to discipline a Taigan. They will have no part of it. Deep calming breaths, softening of the face and tone are the only way to reach your Taigan. Occasionally when a really bad behavior presents itself, I must use the strictest voice and minimal physical discipline to get a point across. Using physicality to discipline my Taigans will never work. For example, in our first puppy training course, we were to told to make our female obey us by grabbing her by the scruff of her neck and dragging her along (as there were no collars worn and the dogs were supposed to follow us ignoring the other dogs). My husband heeded this and our girl would not come to him or make eye contact for over two weeks afterwards. Since t hen we learned that Taigans respond best to encouragement rather than discouragement. Some of the best advice we ever got was to talk to them like you would any other person!
There is also another caveat to raising Taigans. Even if you live in an apartment, you must be able to provide a soft place to crash. If you don’t mind them on your couch, then you are fine. If not, you will have to carve some soft, comfy places for them to recoup.
Taming a Taigan is not for the faint of heart. It takes a city to raise a Taigan and we are so grateful that our city is Vienna!
There is also another caveat to raising Taigans. Even if you live in an apartment, you must be able to provide a soft place to crash. If you don’t mind them on your couch, then you are fine. If not, you will have to carve some soft, comfy places for them to recoup.
Taming a Taigan is not for the faint of heart. It takes a city to raise a Taigan and we are so grateful that our city is Vienna!