A dog named Pirate is to be put down - after biting a human for the fifth time.
The black and white border collie sank its teeth into the arm of a young boy who playfully tried to pick up its ball on a beach.
After hearing it was the fifth time the dog had bitten someone, magistrates gave an order that Pirate should be destroyed.
The dog's owner Kenneth Alford, 64, of Paignton, Devon, was also given a four-month suspended prison sentence and banned from keeping dogs for five years.
Shaun Tipton, prosecuting at Torquay Magistrates' Court, said Alford had taken the dog to Goodrington Beach in September 2015 and let him off his lead.
The dog then ran off and bit the child.
He said: "You might have been doing your best to look after the dog and stop it from attacking others, but that was not good enough for those who have been injured by your dog.
"It appears that the dog bared its teeth and jumped up and then bit the child on the arm."
Defending himself, Alford said that it was out of character for the dog to have bitten someone.
He said: "To people he knows, he is a lovely dog, but he does have a problem with strangers when they try to touch him. He is not an aggressive dog.
"On the day I heard him snarling. I rushed to see what was going on. He carries a football and is very protective about it.
"What I assume happened is the person went to take the football and throw it for him and he injured him with puncture marks.
"I am not saying it is right to bite anyone but it is out of character for the dog."
However, Mr Tipton told the court that this was the fifth time that the dog had bitten someone and that he had failed to adhere to police advice and warnings about looking after him.
Magistrates ordered that the dog to be destroyed, unless an appeal is lodged within 21 days.
Alford pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dangerous dog which was dangerously out of control.
He was also ordered to pay compensation of £250, a victim surcharge of £80 and costs of £85, and was given a rehabilitation activity requirement.
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