This is the heartbreaking moment dogs that nearly drowned in floods in Brazil show the trauma they still experience even after being rescued.

Footage of pups pulled from the waters in Rio Grande do Sul state shows that they are too terrified to stop swimming even when they are on dry land.

Two clips emerging from rescue footage show how they frantically doggy paddle after hours of struggling to stay afloat.

The first, filmed in Canoas, shows one rescued dog on 13th May, still trying to swim despite being wrapped in a blanket and being held by a rescuer.

A second video shows another dog doing exactly the same thing as the rescuer holding it strokes his coat reassuringly.

Emergency workers say more than 10,000 animals have been rescued since the beginning of the floods on 29th April, according to local media reports.

Behavioural vet and animal stress expert Joice Peruzzi told local media: “The behaviour of swimming in dogs is normally related to contact with water.

“So, often, when they were swimming and remain wet for longer, they can still continue with this reflex.

“Or because they have done that repetitive behaviour for a long time, they keep doing it.”

Peruzzi added: “Sometimes the animal is in shock about what happened, an emotional shock.

“Not that it thinks it is still there in the water, but this movement can continue involuntarily.”

Two new flood deaths were confirmed dead on 13th May with the number of victims rising to 147.

Civil Defence officials said there are still 127 people missing and 806 injured, with over half a million displaced.