Win or lose, just entering the show ring at Crufts yesterday was a triumph against the odds for Tayto the Samoyed.

Three months ago, the young dog’s life hung in the balance after she was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer.

But after two operations to remove growths and veterinary treatment including a CT scan – estimated to have cost around £8,000 in total – the 18-month-old was back in action at the world’s biggest dog show at the NEC in Birmingham.

And Tayto, with her 13-year-old handler and owner Diarmuid Sim, proved to be a star, coming first in the ‘good citizen’ training class, and fifth in the Samoyed yearling class, both for females. Yearling refers to those aged between one and two years old.

Diarmuid’s father, Colin Sim, 56, a former marketing executive, from Edinburgh, was there with his wife, Nuala, 46, a public health manager for NHS Scotland.

Tayto at the University of Edinburgh’s vet school. After two operations to remove growths and veterinary treatment including a CT scan – estimated to have cost around £8,000 in total – the 18-month-old was back in action at the world’s biggest dog show at the NEC in Birmingham

Colin Sim and his son Diarmuid, 13, with the 18-month-old Samoyed puppy at the NEC Crufts Show after months of cancer treatment

He said: ‘Just getting to Crufts would have been enough – in December, we weren’t sure Tayto would still be here. Diarmuid was totally surprised and delighted to have her do so well.’ Tayto – named after the Irish crisp brand– competed at the championships last year, winning a reserve rosette in a puppy class. But a few months later she seemed ‘out of sorts’ and a blood test found an abnormality in her estrogen levels.

An ultrasound scan in October detected a growth, and the next day Tayto had an emergency operation to remove a 4in tumour on an ovary. After a CT scan in December found a smaller growth, a second operation was performed in January to remove it.

This time it was not cancerous. She is due to have another CT scan this week.