A dog owner has shared an emotional story on Instagram of how his pet pooch died after protecting the rest of his pack from a black bear.

Pete was an adopted dog whose owners run a dog walking and pet sitting service. He was out hiking with his owner and the pack in the Greenwood Lake, New York, area on Sunday, when they accidentally startled a black bear. While the other dogs and his owner escaped to safety, Pete stayed behind to protect them.

The story, which went viral after it was shared by a friend of the owner on Twitter, can be read in full below.

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A condensed version of the story was shared on Twitter by journalist Ben White, where it's since been shared over 28,000 times.

Tweet may have been deleted

Tweet may have been deleted

If you head to @mmspets on Instagram, you can see more photos of Pete and the other dogs in the pack.

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View this post on Instagram

View this post on Instagram

On Monday evening, after the story went viral, Pete's owners took to Twitter to thank everyone for their support.

Tweet may have been deleted

"He was a senior dog that we adopted after fostering," they wrote.

"His actions prove that no dog is too old to be abandoned or too lost to be loved."