In the 13 dog attacks recorded during a three-month period, six people and 13 animals were left injured, data from the Office of Local Government (OLG) shows.

The quarterly data records the number of dog attacks on people and other animals, with the most recent data from July to September, 2017.

By comparison, there were six dog attacks, with three people and seven animals left injured, during the same quarter in 2012.

The number of registered dogs in the Bathurst local government area has jumped by 57.5 per cent in the six-year period, the OLG data reveals.

In 2012, there were 14,351 dogs, but this has now jumped to 22,598 in 2017.

Bathurst has more dogs than in Orange (20,273) and less than in Dubbo (27,179).

During this reporting quarter, there were 34 dog attacks in Dubbo (with 13 people and 52 animals injured), while in Orange there were 29 attacks (21 people and 20 animals injured).

Denison Dog Training Club vice president and chief instructor Wendy Ellis said training was vital in order to have a well behaved dog.

“Any dog can cause damage to a person or another dog, it doesn’t matter how big or small it is,” she said.

“It’s really important that your dog knows its boundaries. When its told to do something it must respond, and respond immediately.

“Dogs are pack animals and they respond to an alpha leader. People think you have to be cruel to be an alpha leader, you don’t. You need to be firm and consistent.”

Ms Ellis said all dogs should receive training, from as early as eight weeks of age.

“If your dog is socialised early it won’t be afraid or aggressive to other people or dogs,” she said.

Bathurst has the second highest numbers of dogs across the Central West.

Dubbo as the most with 27,179, followed Bathurst (22,598), then Orange (20,273), Mid Western (16,433), Lithgow (13,832), Cowra (7584), Cabonne (7034), Blayney (5296) and Oberon (4119).