How Long Can A Dog Bark Legally (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 5 To 10 Minutes

There are many types of nuisances a person can experience in their day-to-day life. What someone feels like a nuisance, can be what another person experiences daily and is used to it. Nuisance can be experienced in many ways, but, some things are considered a nuisance by almost everybody in the world. One such thing is a loud noise, which can hurt the eardrums. There are different types of loud noises a person can experience, and one of them is continuous barking by the dogs.

Usually, there are multiple reasons why a dog barks continuously and when the owners are notified, some measures will be taken. When the excessive barking continues even after that, it is time to take the necessary actions. Some people adjust the sound, but some do not.

Whenever a dog barks excessively, an abatement notice can be sent to the owner, and it is a notice that requests the owners to do something that can cease the noise. This is sent out when the issue doesn’t resolve by itself.

How Long Can A Dog Bark Legally?

There are various reasons why a dog keeps barking. Excessive barking is the barking that starts interfering with the peace of the neighbors, and how loud the barking can depend on the location, the surroundings, and the breed of the dog. There is no exact amount of barking that is considered excessive barking, only when it disturbs someone is it considered severe and excessive. A dog can bark very loudly and excessively for various reasons.

A dog will start barking when it is extremely boring and doesn’t have any sort of company, mental stimulation, or physical exercise. They also bark due to separation anxiety when they are separated from their owners and family over a certain period, and also due to fear, physical needs, and even medical illness. When a dog starts barking, the owners must take actions to deal with it.

There are many ways to control the barking but first, the reason for the barking must be analyzed. Everything includes where and when the dog is barking, what or who are the target the dog is barking at, and sometimes even some objects and sounds can trigger the dog to bark loudly.

Why Can A Dog Bark Legally For That Long?

When a neighbor’s dog keeps barking excessively, first one should talk to the owner of the dog and let them know about the issue. Wait for a few weeks for the issue to resolve on its own, and one can even give feedback about the dog’s behavior regularly to the owner, which can help them resolve the issue faster.

When this doesn’t work, one can complain to the local council, and once the council investigates this, they will issue an abatement notice. After this abatement issue, if the owner doesn’t abate with it, a fine will be enforced.

Even lawsuits are filed nowadays by neighbors who love a silent neighborhood, which is spoiled by the excessive barking of the dogs.

One can seek injective relief, which is a court order that is issued to the dog owners to keep their dogs quiet, and this will also cover the damages and financial losses experienced by the neighbors due to the excessive barking of the dog. When “financial losses” are mentioned, it includes real estate values, losing tenants due to the noise, and diminished property value too.

Conclusion

Injective relief is certainly the final step, and this must be approached, only when there is no option left. After trying every little thing to resolve the issue, either the injective relief or the abatement issue can be used as the last resort. Though, when considered as a state, according to surveys, a dog can bark legally continuously for about 5 to 10 minutes in the United Kingdom.

Although, in the USA, a dog can bark legally for about 10 to 20 minutes, and in Australia, it’s only 5 minutes. After that, the neighbors will get irritated can take the necessary action if they want, especially if the dog was barking continuously for 5 minutes in one hour.

References

1. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-009-6481-5_19
2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500780008666794