Frederick County, VA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 48-23, adopted in Chapter 48, Article II, Noise, does not ban a single bark; it requires the Sheriff to give written notice to the dog's owner, custodian or person in control first, and only a continued failure after that notice to prevent the dog from making noise "plainly audible to adjoining residents or property owners in a residential subdivision" that "unreasonably annoy, disturb, bother or vex" those neighbors becomes a violation. The rule applies specifically to dogs that yelp or whine, and the notice-first structure means a neighbor's first complaint typically results in a written warning before any citation can follow.

Section 48-24 assigns enforcement to the Sheriff of Frederick County, so a complaint goes through the Sheriff's Office rather than Animal Control or the Zoning Administrator. Under § 48-25, a first violation after notice is punishable by a fine of not more than $25, and each subsequent offense by a fine of not more than $100, with every occurrence treated as a separate offense, so repeated notice-then-violation cycles compound the fine. " The notice requirement means documentation matters: a resident who wants enforcement should ask the Sheriff's Office to issue the written notice referenced in § 48-23 so that a subsequent violation can be prosecuted under § 48-25.