Footage appearing to capture the moment a stray dog saves a woman from a mugger has gone viral.

The film, captured in the former Yugoslav country Montenegro, shows a hooded man following a woman down the street before he pounces and attempts to steal her bag.

But the clever canine – a medium sized dog whose name, said to be Medo, translates as "teddy bear" – leapt to the defence of the woman and chased off the criminal, snapping at his ankles.

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The video was captured in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica and has been shared thousands of times on Facebook and YouTube.

Some have cast doubt on the authenticity of the footage, however, with commentators on YouTube claiming it is “obviously staged”.