This is the moment a small pup gets a licking after a snappy turtle chomps his tongue and refuses to let go.

The hapless dog had been licking at the turtle’s shell when it suddenly bit down hard.

The poor puppy had to be rescued by its owner, Mr Xia, after the turtle clamped down on the dog’s tongue and just would not let go.

Mr Xia filmed the poor pup at his home in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, central China, yowling for help while the turtle stuck fast for half an hour.

Luckily, Mr Xia ended the dog’s struggles by pouring warm water over the turtle’s head to get it to open its jaws.

In the end, the pooch was able to get away from the unpleasant situation seemingly unharmed, having learned a valuable lesson about messing with pets who are every bit as tough as their shells.

A similar incident recently took place in the city of Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province, where another curious pup had also become the victim of a turtle’s powerful snap.

The third piece of footage shows the dog howling as it tries desperately to pull its tongue away from the turtle but the reptile is having none of it.

The dog’s owner, who has been named only as Mr Zhou in local media reports, appears to be helping it too and after prodding the turtle a bit, the reptile lets go, arching its head back and apparently trying to bite Mr Zhou as the footage ends.

The last piece of footage shows the dog’s swollen tongue after it was bitten.

Despite looking a bit tender, the dog, which appeared to be a puppy, looked no worse for wear.