Clackamas County, OR Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

The Animal Licensing chapter and the Noise Control chapter cross-reference each other on barking. Code 5.01.020(A)(4) defines CONTINUOUS ANNOYANCE as any dog that unreasonably causes annoyance, alarm or noise disturbance heard beyond the boundary of the owner's or keeper's property, measured either as one episode of continuous noise lasting at least thirty minutes or repeated intermittent episodes totaling at least forty-five minutes within a 24-hour period. Section 5.01.040(B) makes it unlawful to permit a dog to cause that continuous annoyance, and Noise Control Code 6.05.040(B)(9) separately lists "Dogs" among the noises specifically prohibited, cross-referencing back to Chapter 5.01 for the standard. A complaint can therefore be pursued as a dog-services violation, a general noise violation, or both.

The noise chapter's general per se caps also apply: no sound source may exceed 50 dBA between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. or 60 dBA between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Code 6.05.040(A)), giving a numeric backstop even where the thirty- or forty-five-minute barking thresholds are hard to time precisely. Sound measurements under this chapter must be taken with a Type I or Type II ANSI-standard meter, within three feet of a closed window or door inside the complaining neighbor's home. A dog owner cited for continuous annoyance faces a Dog Services citation under Chapter 5.01.070, or a Sheriff's citation under 6.05.090, and either can lead to a Hearings Officer or compliance hearing.