A three-year-old boy is in Tauranga Hospital after being bitten on the face by a pitbull in Matapihi this morning.

Police, St John Ambulance and dog control officers were called to a property on Waikarie Road about 8.40am.

A second dog was seen at the Matapihi property where a todder was earlier bitten. The dog responsible is in the pound.

Police outside the Matapihi property where a three-year-old was bitten by a dog.

Tauranga Police shift commander Senior Sergeant Shannon Clifford says the boy, from Hastings, was visiting relatives at the property, who own the dog.

Shannon says the boy was playing in the yard near the dog when the dog bit him on the face.

St John Ambulance acting district operations manager Ross Clark says the boy suffered facial lacerations and was transported from Matapihi to Tauranga Hospital by Mount Maunganui paramedics.

He says the injuries are moderate and believes the boy will make a 'good recovery”.

A Tauranga Hospital spokesperson says the boy is currently in a stable, comfortable condition. He is expected to undergo surgery for his injuries.

Tauranga City Council Animal Services team leader Brent Lincoln says animal control officers were called in to assist police at the Matapihi property and have now impounded the dog.

He says the dog is an adult male pitbull-cross.

'At this stage we are gathering the information and will be talking to police about what happened.”

A reporter who visited the scene later this morning says a second dog was roaming the yard of the Matapihi home unchained. Another toddler was also seen at the property.

At this stage Shannon says police are working in conjunction with dog control, and the dog's owners and family of the toddler over the incident. It is too early to say if charges will be laid.

The attacking dog was not previously microchipped.