Nikolaj Fogh, 20, said his superiors tried to keep the royal pooch attack quiet, the Copenhagen Post reported Wednesday.

"Of course you are entitled to sue the royal family, but we'd prefer it if you didn't," Fogh quoted a high-ranking officer as saying after the incident.

Maja Fogh, the guard's mother, said it is unfair that the royal family's dogs get special protection from the law.

"Any other dog would have been put down," she said.