A dog's life: Bangkok street sweeper carries pet to work

A street sweeper in Thailand has become an internet sensation after a picture of her carrying her dog on her back while sweeping the streets of the Thai capital went viral.

Mazda, a year-old Poodle-Shih Tzu mix, is seen calmly hanging in a vest attached to the back of his owner like a backpack while she sweeps the street in a Bangkok suburb, not bothered by passersby and the traffic.

Thitirat Keowa-ram, Bangkok's street sweeper talks on the phone near her poodle-shih tzu. Jiraporn Kuhakan/Reuters

"I asked my boyfriend to buy me a dog to keep me company," Mazda's owner, Thitirat Keowa-ram, 28, said.

"My boyfriend agreed under the condition that I bring it to work," she said.

Thitirat Keowa-ram carries her poodle-shih tzu as she works at a street in Bangkok, Thailand. Jiraporn Kuhakan/Reuters

Thitirat has kept her promise and carried the fluffy black and white dog to work every day for a year now, not bothered by the almost 10kg (22lb) of weight in the pooch pouch on her back.

A bring-your-dog-to-work trend has been gaining popularity in Thailand in recent years, particularly in firms with irregular work hours that see the dog-friendly policy as a way to alleviate employee stress.