A sweet stray dog has learned how to exchange a leaf for food from a market stall.

The three-year-old male pooch named Kla is often seen at a noodle stall near a temple looking for leaves in Ayutthaya province, Thailand.

He will then pick up the best-looking dried leaf he can find under the trees and take it to the food stall to barter it for some treats.

Adorable footage from September 20 shows the innocent but diligent pooch gently biting a crisp leaf in his mouth and approaching the stall owner to exchange it for some grilled meatballs.

Shop owner Kanpisha Reuksawang, 30, said: ‘This dog is quite smart. He comes over every day with a leaf in its mouth acting as a customer.

‘He even knows when the food is cook or not. Sometimes when I am in a hurry to give it food, the sausages are not grilled well since dogs could eat raw food but Kla will not take it and wait.’

Kanpisha added that the brown pooch will come to the shop everyday and whenever there are customers and the dog is ignored, it will patiently wait in front.

She said: ‘The dog never bothered us or the dining customers. When there are many orders coming, the dog will wait in front and don’t bother us when we are busy.’

Noticing the dog’s smart nature, the shop owner attempted several times to pull the leaf out of its mouth but it would always refuse to let go.

When she tried handing over a grilled sausage in exchange, the dog surprisingly dropped the leaf and bit on the food ‘like a paying customer.’

She said: ‘I thought it was only playing so I tried taking the leaf but it didn’t want to give it to me. When I gave it food, it gave me the leaf and bit on the meat.

‘Sometimes I would even give the dog a 20 baht note and watch it walk around buying sausages and meatballs in the area.’

Another shop owner Nuy Saelee, 53, said: ‘He became well-known at the temple. Sometimes visitors would buy him food when they see him walking around with the leaf.

‘Kla is the temple’s stray. I feed him often so he can be seen sitting around my shop a lot. He is also lucky, more people come here because of him.’