A woman was taken to Tauranga Hospital with puncture wounds to her hand after she was bitten by a dog this morning, police said.
Senior Sergeant Carl Purcell said the woman was walking back to her central Tauranga Park St home across Matapihi bridge when the dog started following her.
She tried to shoo it away but it followed her back to her house, he said.
It then reacted to her own small dog which was at her house and as she attempted to pull the large dog away, it bit her hand, he said.
A neighbour helped to secure the dog before police and animal control arrived.