As a dog owner you have a responsibility to care for the welfare of your pet and ensure that the keeping of your dog does not adversely interfere with your neighbours.
Please consider the impact your animal may be having on your neighbours should it be causing a nuisance by barking, harassing or roaming. The responsibility for your animals actions rests with you.
Your dog must be microchipped by 12 weeks of age and registered on the NSW Pet Registry by 6 months of age.
When dogs are away from home, they must wear a collar with a tag that shows the animal's name and the owner's address or telephone number.
Dog owners are responsible for ensuring that their dog does not harm or threaten any person or animal. This means that an owner must contain their dog on their property. When a dog is in a public place, it must be kept on a leash (except in designated off-leash exercise areas) and under the control of a competent person who is capable of restraining it.
Dog owners must ensure that their dog does not enter eating areas, school or childcare grounds (unless prior permission from the principal is granted), wildlife protection areas or within 10 metres of children's play equipment.
You are responsible for ensuring that your animal does not harm or threaten any other person or animal. If your dog attacks a person or another animal you will be liable to prosecution by the Courts. Under no circumstance must you encourage your dog to attack. A Council officer or the police may seize a dog that has attacked. Dog owners are responsible for any damage to a person or animal caused by their dog.
If your dog defecates in a public place you must immediately remove the faeces and properly dispose of them, failing to do so may incur a fine.
You need to consider the impact that your dog may have on your neighbours should it be causing a nuisance by barking, harassing or roaming. The responsibility for your animal's actions rests with you. The Companion Animals Act, provides significant penalties for irresponsible pet owners.
If a dog is habitually at large, repeatedly defecates on neighbours property, chases people or vehicles, causes substantial damage to other people's property, or places the health of people or animals at risk, it can be declared a nuisance dog. A Council officer may issue a nuisance order, which requires the owner to stop the dog from continuing the nuisance behaviour. A nuisance order is a legal restriction, which remains in force for six months. If during this time the owner fails to stop the dog from causing a nuisance then they are in breach of the order and may incur an on-the-spot fine. Continual breaches of the order may incur subsequent fines or legal proceedings.
Information for dog owners and neighbours
Barking dogs: A dog owners guide
Barking is one way that dogs communicate and, in most cases, it does not cause problems.
While it may appear that dogs are barking for no reason, they are in fact trying to communicate something to their owner, or anyone who is willing to pay attention.
Persistent barking may indicate a dog is unhappy, bored and frustrated. It can also affect the comfort of people living in the vicinity of the dog. Dog owners should understand why dogs behave as they do and try to ensure that their dog does not cause a nuisance to neighbours through excessive barking.
What can I do?
To determine the best way to stop nuisance barking you need to know the cause. Nuisance barking may be a behavioural problem caused by anxiety or lack of exercise, companionship, or adequate stimulation.
Your vet or a dog-training club may be able to assist you determine the cause and suggest strategies to reduce the barking. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. You may need to try several strategies to achieve success.
Fact sheet – Dealing with barking dogs(PDF, 350KB)
Is there other information to help?
We have other related information available through links if more information is needed, including if there may be other issues such as animal neglect or abuse
EPA fact sheet
RSPCA website
Animal Welfare League website
What is nuisance barking?
A dog that makes a noise, by barking or otherwise, that persistently occurs or continues to such an extent that it unreasonably interferes with the peace, comfort, or convenience of any person in another premises.
Nuisance barking can be determined in several ways:
- it could be the length of time the dog/s are barking, for example nonstop barking for up to half an hour or longer
- it could be the number of barking episodes occurring within a certain time frame, for example barking for five minutes, break for two minutes then barking again for six minutes and continues to bark in this type of pattern up to an hour or longer
A dog’s barking if excessive, can be a problem for your neighbour/s, causing the neighbour/s stress, anxiety and even loss of sleep.
What to do first
Contact your neighbour
If your neighbours dog is causing a nuisance through excessive barking, your first step could be to approach your neighbour. Your neighbour may not be aware there is a problem, particularly if the nuisance barking occurs when your neighbours are not at home.
Approaching your neighbour can be either face to face, or in writing advising them of the problem.
Here is an example of a letter that could assist you if you decide to inform your neighbour about the barking dog
Barking dog Courtesy letter(PDF, 10KB)
Contact the Community Justice Centre
Community Justice Centre’s (CJC) are government funded centre’s providing free mediation sessions for residents who may be having problems or issues with their neighbours, such as barking dogs, fence related disputes etc. You may be able to use a Community Justice Centre to help resolve a potential dispute.
Your local CJC is located at Level 1 & 5, Parramatta Justice Precinct, 160 Marsden Street, Parramatta NSW 2150. PH: 1800 990 777.
Alternatively, you can visit the CJC website
Next steps
Lodge a complaint with Council
If all else fails, you can lodge a formal complaint with Council.
Please note we will not accept complaints via phone, email or written. Click here to access the online complaint form
The process
Barking Dog Diary(PDF, 286KB)