An adventure to the end

The Kazakh travelling dog who accompanied Drouin South adventurer Tim Cope on a three-year horseback journey on the trail of Genghis Khan has died.

“Tigon”, who became popularly known through a six-part ABC/National Geographic documentary series and a bestselling book about Cope’s journey which began in 2004, was possibly the most travelled dog on the planet.

Tigon had walked and run more than 10,000km across the great Eurasian steppe through Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Hungary.

He was given to Cope as a puppy in Kazakhstan where tradition has it that dogs choose their owners.

Within days Tigon and Cope were inseparable, and together survived extraordinary circumstances including minus 50-degree temperatures, searing deserts and being stolen on multiple occasions.

“Tigon became my guide, my intuition and my courage, turning hostility into friendship, hardship into fun, and big vast wilderness into a home,” said Cope.

A year after reaching the Danube, Tigon was brought to Australia in late 2008 with the help of public donations.

Cope said Tigon, who was nearly 15-years-old and is survived by three litters of puppies, was tragically killed by a car during a night escapade near Warragul. He added that “he died as he lived - on an adventure”.

Cope is currently in the process of finishing two children’s books about Tigon’s life.