A police dog in Kansas who was reported missing on Sunday has bitten a teenage boy on the face and chest.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff´s Office revealed in a Facebook post that Bocephus disappeared from his home near 21st Street North and 119th Street West in Wichita around 7pm.

Around 10.30pm, a 14-year-old boy found Bocephus near 2100 N. Parkridge, put the dog on a leash and walked around the neighborhood in hopes of finding the owner.

When no one in the neighborhood claimed German shepherd, the boy brought the canine to his home where he kept Bocephus in his bedroom overnight.

Pictured: Bocephus, a dog working with the Sedgwick County Sheriff´s Office, after he was found by his handler on Monday morning

Hill: '[Bocephus] bit him and he was really shocked. He tried pulling away…and the dog bit him again'

Authorities say the boy took Bocephus for a walk around 5.30am on Monday and later tried to remove the dog’s leash.

That’s when Bocephus bit the boy on the face and chest.

The boy’s mother took him to the Wesley Minor Emergency Clinic to be treated for minor injuries and returned home to recover.

Bocephus remained outside until he was located by his handler around 6am.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff´s Office does not know how Bocephus got loose and are currently investigating the matter.

Elizabeth Hill, the boy’s sister, said she was shocked to learn that Bocephus was a police dog and that the bite was unexpected.

She told KWCH 12: '[Bocephus] bit him and he was really shocked. He tried pulling away…and the dog bit him again.’

Sergeant Hank Cocking (pictured) with Bocephus prior to the dog's disappearance and the incident with the teenage boy

Crafton (pictured): '(If K-9s) see somebody on the street, they don't understand the difference between an average person and a criminal, depending on the circumstance'

‘If anything bad or worse would have happened to him, it would have broken my hear,’ she said.

Sedgwick County Sheriff's Sgt. Justin Crafton is the K-9 unit supervisor and says Bocephus was acting on instinct.

Crafton said: ‘(If K-9s) see somebody on the street, they don't understand the difference between an average person and a criminal, depending on the circumstance.’

‘They are tools and they're partners of ours, so most of the time, we're not going to expose them to our families. We're not going to expose them to small children.’

He says that despite bonding with their handler, dogs in the K9 unit get limited interaction with other people.

When off-duty, a k-9 doesn’t don its official vest that would distinguish it from other dogs.

Lt. Tim Myers says the dog will return to service after a 10-day quarantine, which is standard after a bite.