A hero pet dog saved a newborn baby's life when it found the child abandoned in front of a couple's house in Thailand.

The pooch named Pong began growling and barking while pacing back and forth sniffing at the package in the early hours of the morning while it was raining today, August 9.

Resident Phuwiang Intawong, 55, listened for a while and tried to go back to sleep but finally went outside with her husband Phuwiang at 5am to see what Pong was distressed by.

They noticed Pong was still barking at a mystery black bag in the undergrowth on the other side of their garden wall in Nong Khai province.

The family opened the bag and were shocked to find a baby girl inside, wrapped in a pink towel and covered in a white waxy substance with its umbilical cord still attached. It was breathing weakly, but still alive.

Phuwiang said: 'I could hear my neighbour's dog barking. That's what woke me up early. I went back to sleep for a bit but I could still hear the dog making noises. That's when I decided to go outside and check. I was so surprised there was a baby there. I want to know why the person left her at my house.'

The housewife alerted Pong's owner, Police Sub-Lieutenant Sommart Kunlanet, who lives across from their house and allows his pooches to wander on the road at night.

Nong Khai police and officials from the Hin Ngom Sub-district Administrative Administrative Organization were also called to the scene for assistance.

They said the 'cute and fair-skinned' baby girl weighed 7lbs and had all its external organs intact. It had been covered in vernix - a white, creamy layer that coats babies inside the womb.

Staff said the girl was healthy. She has been taken to the Nong Khai Hospital for further monitoring.

Sommart said the baby was now out of danger and is being cared for by nurses.

He said: 'It was thanks to Pong that the baby was saved. He doesn't bark for no reason. But last night, the family noticed his loud and unusual growls. Had he not alerted us, no one would have known and come to the baby's aid.'