Three loyal pet dogs were found guarding the body of their beloved owner after she died.

The heartbroken pooches - two Poodle and one mixed-breed dog - laid inconsolably next to a dead woman inside her house in Chonburi province, Thailand on February 14.

Their owner Tatchanun Insomya, 51, who worked as a seafood vendor reportedly died of heart attack and was discovered eight hours later with the dogs by relatives.

When relatives tried to move her out, the dogs would follow her around and refused to leave her side until the emergency responders arrived.

Police Major Montian Gadudom of the Najomtian police station said: 'We received a report about a deceased person so we went there with the rescue team.

'We saw her body being guarded by dogs. We had to do an investigation but the dogs would not leave her. They looked very sad.'

Police said the woman had been dead for at least eight hours and found no signs of a struggle inside her home. It took the team two hours to clear the property before her body was taken to the hospital before being returned to her family for the funeral.

The pet owner's daughter Inthira Chanthong, 14, said her mother had been sickly and chose to live alone in the house with the three dogs.

She said: 'She cared for the dogs since they were young but she's sick so I had to live with relatives. They followed her everywhere and were very close.'

The dogs have been given up for adoption since the woman's closest surviving family member is still a minor.