Roj Bash Kurdistan

The dog at the top left is mentioned as a lévrier kurde.

I've never seen Kurdish gazehound (extinction ?) ; was it a dog only owned by aghas and princes ? Kurdish gazehound is considered as the probable ancestor of the Russian gazehound (barzoi), and might itself be the descendant of the Afghan one.

The Persian breed (Saluki) seems thinner with short hair. On the picture, we can see that the Kurdish is a strong and tall dog, like the Barzoi, with a thicker fur but not long as in Afghanistan. Its ears are cut (a protection against wolves and other wild beasts' bites). It should ne resistant to hard winters as hot summers.

I wonder if such dogs are still existing, if not, it would be interesting to recreate the breed.

I love it's coat and long tail

I wonder how long ago they existed because I am certain they do not exist now - or do they in some isolated valley somewhere - anything is possible in the hidden depths of Kurdistan

I am not fond of dogs, but I admire gazehounds. They are so elegant, aristocratic like cats.

Piling wrote:I am not fond of dogs, but I admire gazehounds. They are so elegant, aristocratic like cats.

Cats are not as friendly as dogs

When I take dogs out they always play with other dogs

Cats just seem to want to fight each other

I remember in my village these type of dogs were prized a lot. They were known as Taji, تاژي.
In our village I remember, they used to cut the tail and the ears of the dogs. The reason as claimed it would make them strong.

Anthea wrote:

Piling wrote:I am not fond of dogs, but I admire gazehounds. They are so elegant, aristocratic like cats.

Cats are not as friendly as dogs

When I take dogs out they always play with other dogs

Cats just seem to want to fight each other

Cats are not friendly like dogs but they have their own way to love.

If 2 cats are brought togehter they played often… and the play ends as a battle because they ar ebad losers, like kids

I prefer cats, like most of writers. A common way of life.

Iam-londoner wrote:I remember in my village these type of dogs were prized a lot. They were known as Taji, تاژي.
In our village I remember, they used to cut the tail and the ears of the dogs. The reason as claimed it would make them strong.

Well if they are not exincted, good news.

Now it is forbidden in Europe to cut ears and tails, but before it was common also. Not for all breeds. But fighting dogs and shepherds : because a wild beast can easily catch a dog by the ears or the tails (and human foes also, I guess).

Piling wrote:

Iam-londoner wrote:I remember in my village these type of dogs were prized a lot. They were known as Taji, تاژي.
In our village I remember, they used to cut the tail and the ears of the dogs. The reason as claimed it would make them strong.

Well if they are not exincted, good news.

Now it is forbidden in Europe to cut ears and tails, but before it was common also. Not for all breeds. But fighting dogs and shepherds : because a wild beast can easily catch a dog by the ears or the tails (and human foes also, I guess).

In the UK many breeds of dogs have their tails cut off

It was essential for gun dogs to have their tails removed because they could cause themselves a great deal of pain while retrieving birds in thick undergrowth

Sadly many other dogs had their tails docked (cut off) as a fashion

To Londoner : and for what use these tajî were bred in your village ? hunting, shepherd, watching, racing, or just for themselves ?

I hope to see one of them, one day, or find old photographie.

Piling wrote:To Londoner : and for what use these tajî were bred in your village ? hunting, shepherd, watching, racing, or just for themselves ?

I hope to see one of them, one day, or find old photographie.

It was supposed to be for hunting but there was nothing to hunt. It was bred just for social statues. If you had one of them you have drawn the attention of every one. I remember the village chief had one, given to him as a gift. The dog was following him everywhere and the dog, not himself, was the focus of attention.

Speaking about hunting, I remember there was plenty of wild ghazals, which is a vey elegant wild animal. They were hunted to the extinction by vehicles.

Iam-londoner wrote:Speaking about hunting, I remember there was plenty of wild ghazals, which is a vey elegant wild animal. They were hunted to the extinction by vehicles.

That is terribly sad

Kurds and ecology… that's terrible.