Fans of the Russian president are going barking mad for this calendar - 12 months of Vladimir Putin posing with DOGS.

The 9’’ x 12’’ glossy wall piece - released to mark the Year Of The Dog in neighbouring communist China - shows the former KGB spy cuddling, feeding and playing with a range of pooches.

The cover shot is Putin with his beloved four-year-old Akita named Yume jumping up at him inside the Kremlin during a visit from Japanese officials.

Other pictures include the politician nuzzling a Cocker Spaniel for July and shaking hands with an attentive Labrador in April.

The calendar follows the success of a similarly bizarre production in 2015 which showed Putin in a mix of activities - including topless fishing and exercising.

Russian resident Sergei Potapot from Ealing, west London, who bought one of the souvenirs, said: ‘’I saw the calendar on a recent trip home. They were flying off the shelves in St Petersburg. I bought two.

‘’People can criticise our leader but nobody can doubt his love for dogs.’'

The calendar is printed in the former Soviet Union by a Russian company. Copies are only available in the UK on the secondary market.

Earlier this month the Russian government’s official Putin calendar was also released. It features him posing with a leopard, riding a three-wheeled motorbike, playing ice hockey and holding a cat among other shots.