Authorities say that a woman has died after she was trying to stop her dog from attacking a toddler inside her home near Langdon, a community east of Calgary.

Emergency crews were called to the scene at just after 6:00 p.m. on Saturday for reports of a dog attack at a home in Rocky View County.

When they arrived, they learned that a dog, a boxer-pitbull cross, first attacked a two-year-old girl before turning on its owner, a 50-year-old woman.

"In an effort to stop the attack on the toddler, an adult female intervened and the dog turned the aggression on her. Unfortunately, the adult woman suffered fatal wounds as a result of the dog attack," said Staff Sergeant John Spaans, with the RCMP's K-Division.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

The toddler was taken to hospital in serious non-life threatening condition, suffering from traumatic soft tissue injuries to her arms and legs.

"She has been transported to the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary where, as far as I can tell, continues to receive treatment for the dog bite wounds."

The pitbull-boxer cross as well as another dog were quickly seized following the attack.

"The involved dog was quickly contained by family members who were present at the house at the time and put in a kennel. That dog as well as another dog that was in the house has been quarantined at a facility in Calgary," Spaans said.

The dogs will be monitored for a period of up to 10 days to check for diseases such as rabies. Once that period has elapsed, the fate of the involved dog will be decided.

"There's a number of options that are possible, including voluntarily euthanizing the animal or making an application to the courts to order the animal to be put down. There's also remedies such as allowing the family the opportunity to make the house safe [by] building kennels and fencing, but that's further down the road."

According to witnesses, the dog had not shown previous signs of aggression and was well-behaved.

There's no indication to say that the second dog, a purebred boxer, was involved in the fatal attack.

Investigators and family members are still working to determine what caused the animal to turn on the toddler and behave in the way it did.

Spaans says initial investigations show that there is no indication the girl was provoking the animal and appeared to be minding her own business when the attack occurred.

He added that the scene was quite traumatic for first responders as well.

"In talking with one or two of the responding members, it was certainly not anything that any member wants to see. That being said, our members are quite professional and they're good at what they do. We all know in this profession that we'll be exposed to things or see things that we don't necessarily want to see."

Spaans says there are avenues in place to render assistance to any members who require it.

He says it's rare to see fatal wounds in a dog attack in Alberta.

Meanwhile, residents in the Hamlet of Langdon say that they are pulling together for the family affected by the tragic situation.

"It's definitely is shocking, for sure. Everybody here in Langdon, we’re a very close-knit community and we’ve all tried to come together and we’re here to support the family," said Rachel, a resident who wanted to withhold her last name.

She says there has already been some offers of support for the family too.

"You know, whatever we can do, we’ll step up to the plate. We always do."

The identities of the victims have not been released.