Brentwood, CA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

180(R) provides that no person having control or care of a dog shall permit it to enter or remain in a park unless the dog is led by a leash of suitable strength not more than six feet in length, with the exception of an area specifically designated as off-leash. The subsection makes the person owning, controlling, or having custody of the dog jointly and severally responsible for all damages the dog causes and requires that person to remove and dispose of the dog's waste.

The city's dog park rules, found earlier in the same chapter, add that children age twelve and under must be accompanied by an adult in the dog park and that Contra Costa County Animal Services will be contacted regarding dogs left unattended there, since Brentwood contracts with the county for animal control services rather than running its own shelter. The leash rule applies specifically to city parks and facilities; it does not, by its terms, regulate dogs on private property or on ordinary city sidewalks outside park boundaries, which fall under separate county animal control provisions.

Off-leash access is limited to areas the city has affirmatively designated and posted for that purpose, such as a fenced dog park, so a dog running loose anywhere else in a park violates the six-foot leash requirement even if the owner is nearby.