A man is taking his best friend on the adventure of a lifetime to trace the pet’s family tree – and they are making a “dog-umentary” along the way.

The 3,000-mile trip from London to Helsinki will take TabanyaRuu Osa, a 13-year-old Finnish Lapphund, on a journey to discover his roots.

His owner, Mark Jeffreys, from First Avenue, Gillingham, said: “I’ve always wanted to do this. I love him to bits and he hasn’t got long to go, but he’s in really good shape.

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“Hopefully we can have a great trip and rediscover Osa’s heritage in his twilight years.”

He has already found the dog’s only surviving sister from his 2001 litter and is hoping to meet the breeders who introduced his grandparents and made dog breeding history.

In 2000, his grandmother Echo was mated with champion Finnish Lapphund, Nori – the first time a UK-based bitch from any breed had been flown abroad to mate under the new pet passport scheme – and produced his father Tuukka.

The Pet Travel Scheme allows animals to travel easily between member countries without having to go into quarantine and the pet passport officially records information related to a specific animal, to speed up and simplify travel.

Osa’s adventure started on Friday when he went to Crufts in Birmingham, where he spent time at the Dogs for Disabled stall, the chosen charity for their adventure. He also had a once over from one of the judges, Sue Dunger.

The five set off on their epic journey in a camera van on March 20. Their destination is the Finnish Lapphund spring festival in Turku at the end of this month where Osa will take part in an obedience class.

Watch: Osa getting ready for Crufts

Osa and Mark, 48, will travel through seven countries and three young filmmakers from Medway are making what they are calling a “dog-umentary” about the road-trip, called Four Men and a Dog – The Finnish Line.

Mark, originally from Brisbane, Australia, said: “It’s a spin-off of Who Do You Think You Are? except it’s with a dog.”

The film is being produced by Capture That Films – 20-year-old presenter James David Gore, sound operator Isaac Allen, 21, and cinematographer Michael Mowbray, 21.

You can follow the team on their adventure on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube.

They are also aiming to raise awareness and £5,000 for Dogs for the Disabled, a charity that trains dogs to help adults and children with physical disabilities as well as children with autism.