A Chihuahua named Zoey saved a child in northern Colorado from a deadly rattlesnake, by getting in between them, and getting bitten in the process – proof again that size doesn’t matter.

Some of the world’s most fearless dogs seem to be those that come up to about your ankle.

One-year-old Booker West was splashing his hands in a birdbath at his grandparents' home in Colorado when the snake slithered toward the infant and lunged.

According to wire service reports, Zoey , five-pound Chihuahua, jumped between the rattlesnake and the child, crying out when she got bitten. That alerted the boy's grandfather, who ran to the rescue.

Zoey was rushed to a vet, treated for snake bites and released.

Grandfather Monty Long said: "She got in between Booker and the snake, and that's when I heard her yipe."

Zoey's proud owner Denise Long said: "These little bitty dogs, they just don't really get credit."