Witnesses called Bavarian police to the scene in the Perlacher Forest where they found the small girl lying motionless on the ground and bleeding from the head. The dog owner had thrown herself over the child to protect her from a Great Dane, which could not be calmed.

Officers immediately forced the dog away from the girl and woman, then shot it dead with a service revolver before it could inflict further injury.

The injured child was rushed to a Munich hospital by ambulance with a minor bite and laceration wounds on her arms, head and torso. In trying to stop the attack, the dog owner also suffered minor injuries to her head and back.

The girl and her 11-year-old sister had parental consent to go for a walk in the forest with the dog owner, her two Great Danes and another half-breed dog on Thursday evening, police said in a statement.

Some 30 minutes into the walk, the girl bent down by a flower and the Great Dane attacked her, forcing her to the ground and biting her.

The victims were submitted to the crises-intervention team at the hospital.