A four-year-old British girl has died after a family dog bit and shook her like a rag doll at home.

Lexi Hudson was violently attacked at her Leicestershire, UK flat with neighbors hearing the screams of her mom, Jodi, 30, who rushed out of the house with mud and blood all over her.

Police were alerted at 12:15 p.m. after the French Mastiff cross attacked the young girl. She died at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

Hudson was a friendly child and often played outside the house. She recently started primary school and her family had owned the dog for four weeks. Her mother, Jodi, had been looking after the pet for a friend.

The pet dog was unusually huge, seemed to be lovely and not aggressive at all. However, the dog was not under the list of breeds in Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Acts. Reports said Hudson had tried to wrestle with the dog. The young girl was attacked in a leafy cul-de-sac road where flats were worth GBP 40,000 to GBP 100,000 in the village between Leicester and Loughborough. No arrest was made.

New laws in England and Wales raised the maximum imprisonment of dog owners who kill people aged 2 to 14. Five years is now the maximum sentence for dog attacks that injure or kill and will take effect in 2014. Sixteen people have been killed by dog attacks in the UK since 2005. This new law will protect family members, visitors and friends, including nurses, postal workers, utility workers and other professionals who visit houses as part of their jobs. Dogs who attack trespassers are exempted.

Guide on how to handle a dog attack:

1. Remain calm. There's truth to the adage that animals can sense fear. If you scream and become agitated, the dog will feel more confident to attack as you will appear as an enemy or be a threat to the animal.

2. Standstill like a tree. Avoid waving your arms or kicking your legs because the dog will perceive these movements as threats. Never make an eye contact as this could make the dog lunge. Do not run. Often the dog will lose interest and move away if you ignore.

3. Offer the dog anything he can bite such as backpack or water bottle if he continues to threaten you. This might distract him and it will you time to move away.

4. If pacifying the dog doesn't work, face him sternly and command him to leave, while still avoiding eye contact.

5. If the dog lunges, defend yourself. Yell for help while you fight back. Hit the dog in other body parts, not the thick skull. Go for eyes, nose and limbs.

6. Protect your chest, throat and face because these are the most sensitive body areas. Use your entire body weight to push down the dog while keeping your face from being bitten or scratched. If the dog is too aggressive, you can easily break its bone.