San Joaquin County, CA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 4-9020 is built around two elements that both have to be present before a dog is a violation. The first is duration: the section defines continuous and incessant barking as frequent barking for a period of ten minutes or more. The second is effect: that barking must disturb the peace of another person. Ten minutes of barking that reaches nobody does not meet the definition, and one startling bark that wakes a neighbor does not either. Both halves of the San Joaquin County test have to be satisfied.

The noise is not limited to barking. The definition expressly reaches howling, crying, baying, or making any other noise, so a dog that howls for ten straight minutes falls under the same prohibition as one that barks for ten.

There is no quiet-hours carve-out here. Because § 4-9020 covers barking at any time during the day or night, a ten-minute episode on a weekday afternoon is treated the same as one in the middle of the night. Unlike ordinances that only restrict overnight noise, San Joaquin County's rule turns entirely on how long the dog goes and whether someone's peace is disturbed.

The duty runs to any person who keeps the dog or permits it to remain on the premises. That wording reaches past the registered owner: a resident, tenant, or property occupant who lets someone else's dog stay on the premises is covered by the same prohibition, because permitting the dog to remain is enough.

Two situations take an episode outside the section entirely. It does not apply if the complaint arose while a trespasser was on the dog owner's property, and it does not apply if the dog was being teased or provoked when it barked. Both exceptions look at what caused the noise rather than how long it lasted, so a dog reacting to an intruder or to someone antagonizing it is not treated as a nuisance barker no matter how long it goes on.

Complaints under § 4-9020 are handled by an Animal Services Officer working under the Sheriff's Office.