Truly the canine equivalent of the Laughing Cavalier, he beams on all and sundry with a smile from ear to ear. A bad-tempered Samoyed is something that the devotees would shudder to contemplate, and fortunately he is a real rarity.

The Samoyed of today developed from dogs used for herding and guarding livestock, as well as sledding, by two nomadic tribes of north-central Siberia, the Samoyeds and the Nentsy. It was fur traders who first brought the breed to Britain, and the European explorers described both black dogs and white dogs. Black and white dogs were used on the first Polar exploration, but the sparkling-white, stand-off coat, with occasional tones of cream and biscuit quite acceptable, is now the hallmark of an instantly recognisable dog.

His Arctic ancestry as a working dog has decreed that the Samoyed should have flat feet and a deal of hair between the toes and under the soles, acting as canine snow-shoes and preventing snow balling up in between the toes as happens in many other breeds whose feet are ‘well knuckled-up’.

The thick luxuriant coat takes a lot of physical effort to keep at its best, but that effort is well worth the considerable time that has to be expended on grooming.

He is relatively obedient, in what might be described as a fairly casual fashion, but then a true Sam looks on the world as something to be enjoyed to the full, and too much going by the book can get one down! He is not a big eater for such a solid dog, but he does tend to be vocal.