'Getting to know you' big part of early pet ownership

New dog owners should take time to get to know their pet's behaviour, experts say.

The comments come after a dog attacked a 5-year-old girl outside a Grey Lynn supermarket on Monday, leaving her with a hole in her cheek and a split nostril. The female owner had had the dog for three days.

The victim's mother, Jane Small, said the attack was unprovoked.

"My children are quite sensible and have played with dogs before.

"The unfortunate thing was we had to walk past the dog to get inside."

She said her two daughters moved towards the dog as she got her baby son from the back of the car.

When she told her daughters to be careful, the owner said the dog was very friendly.

Alice, 7, patted the dog on the back of the head, but the dog lunged at 5-year-old Eva when Mrs Small was about a metre from them.

"If the owner was holding the dog by the collar, it leapt out of her grip," she said.

But Geoff Atherfold, dog control spokesman for Auckland City Council, said the incident was unfortunate as the owner did everything right - the dog was on a leash and tied to a seat.

"She thought she knew how the dog was going to react. The children may have done something inadvertently."

Denise Sharp, founder of the German Shepherd Rescue Trust, said the incident should never have happened.

"It's ridiculous - anyone who has had a dog for three days does not put a dog in that situation." She said dogs in new environments need time to adapt and establish a pecking order.

Dr Cathy Casey, Dog Owners Group spokeswoman, said the owner should have spent more time with the dog before taking it out in public.

"It's the new owner's responsibility to test the dog and control the interaction. You can't assert that you know the dog's behaviour after three days."

Unitec lecturer in animal behaviour Arnja Dale said the owner should have been able to restrain the dog in case there was a problem. She said it was a difficult situation for the victim's mother.

"If you're told the dog is friendly, how protective of the children should you be?

"But you always have to be careful with children around dogs."

She said the dog's history may have been a factor in the attack, adding that many owners dropping dogs at the pound do not give true information about the dogs. The back of the head can be a threatening place to pat a dog, she said.

"There's not enough education on how people should interact with dogs."

Mr Atherfold said the council would decide on further action after an investigation by Animal Control Services, due to be completed by the end of the week.

The dog owner refused to comment, but ACS spokesperson Ken Muir said she had been told the dog was from a family with children, and it was used to children being around.

Shane Croft, a farm consultant with two baby sons and a german shepherd, questioned whether Eva's mother could have done more.

He said: "Animals can be very unpredictable, even if they're well-trained."

He said he never lets his sons go near a strange dog without patting the dog himself first.

"Parents also need to be dog wise."

The dog was put down yesterday morning. Eva was released from Middlemore Hospital yesterday afternoon and is recovering well.