Ottawa County, MI Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

4, titled "Nuisance, Aggressive or Dangerous Animal or barking dog," folds the barking-dog rule into the county's broader nuisance-animal standard: a person who owns or has custody of an animal shall prevent the animal from engaging in nuisance, aggressive or dangerous behavior, and the owner of a dog shall prevent the dog from barking, whining or howling in excessive or continuous fashion. 8 as one running at large whose behavior includes biting or harassing contact, uncollected urination or defecation, or damaging personal property, though the barking clause itself is not tied to the animal being off-property.

Four built-in exceptions found in Article II keep an animal from being labeled nuisance, aggressive or dangerous where the triggering act was caused by illness or injury, the complainant's own negligent or reckless conduct, lawful supervised hunting, or defense of the owner, the owner's family or their property. 290, residents of municipalities with their own noise or nuisance-animal codes, which is most of Ottawa County's cities and townships, are governed by that local ordinance instead. 2.