A three-year-old boy suffered chest and facial injuries when he was mauled by a dog.
The toddler was walking with his mother along a footpath on the Gold Coast when he was attacked on Tuesday night.
A police spokesman said the dog, which appeared to be a rottweiler, pushed the boy to the ground and bit him.
Paramedics initially took the boy to the Gold Coast Hospital, but he has since been transferred to the Mater Children's Hospital in South Brisbane and is being treated for chest and facial injuries.
The dog was located about 100 metres from where the attack took place on a Southport street.
"We cornered it into the yard of a house so it was no longer a threat," the police spokesman said.
But when officers from the Gold Coast City Council arrived, the dog was no longer in the yard, he said.
He said the dog would not have been able to escape on its own as the fence was too high to jump.
Police tried to speak to the resident of the house but were unsuccessful.
Investigations are continuing.
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