Footage has captured the moment when a female dog was reunited with her puppies in the US.

The Marin Humane Society in California said someone had surrendered the mother and another dog to them, and they learned soon afterward that the female had just given birth.

"After some detective work and a lot of convincing, our team was able to get the person who surrendered the dogs to also surrender the puppies, as they still needed their momma and were not in a safe situation", the society said.

The mother's name is Cora, so the staff named the puppies after other characters from 'Downton Abbey'.

The society has already received phone calls to adopt Cora and the puppies.

It adds that there were "tears of joy all around" at this happy reunion.