A small brewery in the Netherlands has launched a new beer designed to bring cool relief to thirsty dogs.

Kwispelbier, marketed as "a beer for your best friend", is made from a special brew of beef extract and malt.

The beverage is a creation of pet shop owner Gerrie Berendsen, who wanted her dogs to share light refreshments with her after a day's hunting.

The beer is non-alcoholic and fit for human consumption, but costs four times as much as a Heineken.

"Kwispel" is the Dutch word for wagging a tail.

Ms Berendsen, who lives in the eastern town of Zelhem, commissioned the small local Schelde brewery to make and bottle the beer.

"Once a year we go to Austria to hunt with our dogs, and at the end of the day we sit on the verandah and drink a beer. So we thought, my dog also has earned it," Ms Berendsen told the Associated Press.