She knew that I had a farm so there was plenty of space for him there.

“I had a secretary when I was still working, and she was getting a divorce so she had to move to a small apartment. She asked me for a favour, if I could mind her dog for a while – she knew that I had a farm so there was plenty of space for him there.

I said, “Yes, sure!” and I never saw her again. I had that dog for nine years, he died last Christmas. Since then, I got another two, and it’s impossible not to fall in love with them, given their wonderful personalities!

I actually have seven dogs of different breeds; they’re all big ones, though.”

“What is the best thing about having a big dog?”

“Well, it makes it easy to socialise if you want to, for example, yesterday; when I was walking him we passed by a photo shoot. The photographer saw him, ran over to me, and asked if he could borrow him for a few shots with the model. Turns out that he was shooting for Vogue!

If you’d prefer not to be social, they are the best for that too. It’s a real pleasure walking him in the night time – you feel invincible.”

“What’s the worst part?”

“There aren’t many, but the most obvious one is that you need an actual nappy bag to pick up after him…”