Bonner County, ID Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 10-310 of the Bonner County Revised Code is the barking dog rule. It sets no decibel level and no quiet hours. It borrows the definition in § 10-120, which describes a nuisance animal as one that by loud, continued or frequent barking, howling, yelping, or other noise, or by noxious or offensive odors, or by chasing, aggressing, attacking or scaring passersby, chasing vehicles or attacking other domestic animals, endangers the health and welfare or disturbs the peace of or annoys any reasonable person or neighborhood.

The process starts with a complaint made to the sheriff. The sheriff serves a copy of the notice on the person complained of. The crime of animal nuisance then reaches a person who wilfully or negligently permits a dog owned or possessed, or under his or her custody or control, to become a nuisance within Bonner County. Under § 10-120 an owner is the legal owner or anyone who keeps, harbors or possesses the animal, or has it in his or her care as caretaker. The enforcing agency is the Bonner County sheriff's department, which Title 10 calls the department.

The fine climbs with repeat offenses. A first violation is an infraction with a fine of $100. A second violation within five years of the first conviction is an infraction with a fine of $200. A defendant with two animal nuisance convictions in the previous five years who is charged with a third offense or more is a habitual offender and is charged with a misdemeanor punishable under § 10-140. Subsection D adds that it is not a defense that the offenses charged involve different animals.

This page covers unincorporated Bonner County. Incorporated cities such as Sandpoint keep their own codes. Owners who keep more than six adult dogs also face § 10-701 C, which bars multiple-animal keeping that creates a public nuisance due to odor, noise or collection of fecal matter.