This animal lover's relaxing afternoon in his garden could have been his last if not for his courageous pet.

An Aussie chilling in his back garden with a beer was unaware he was inches from death - when the world's second most venomous snake crawled in between his legs.

But luckily for the unnamed animal lover, his pet dog was quick to react and chased the eastern brown snake from underneath his deckchair.

Home surveillance captured the terrifying footage which shows the man jumping out of his chair in shock when his dog barks and bites at a snake near his foot.