Barking Dog

[sjfcontrol]

I don't know what the layout of the OP's property is, but if an officer (or anybody) looked over my fence ( or gate) into my back yard, he indeed would be either on my property, or on one of my neighbor's.

[jbarn]

I don't know what the layout of the OP's property is, but if an officer (or anybody) looked over my fence ( or gate) into my back yard, he indeed would be either on my property, or on one of my neighbor's.

There is nothing wrong with him being on your property.

[jbarn]

With reference to any authority to enter your yard, absent a couple specific situations, they don't have any right to enter your property at all. They need A) permission, B) a warrant, or C) "exigent circumstances", ie, murder being committed, actively chasing a suspect (in sight, jumping into your yard or kicking your door in, and following him), or fire/earthquake/natural disaster response. So, if you aren't home or don't answer, have your gates locked, and "no entry w/o permission" type signs posted. If he enters without any of ABC then, he's committing trespass.

If you are referring to his fenced in yard, you are mostly correct.

On the greater issue, assuming your bad neighbor's being a bad neighbor and making frivolous calls, you say you're "in the county." I'd ask to see what laws or ordinances exist with reference to dogs barking or other noise complaints for your area. I'd lay odds that there ARE no enforceable regs in place, and your dog could bark all night long with impunity. Likewise, while speed limit violations would be citation-worthy, your neighbor could probably be as loud as he wanted, too, without any recourse for the neighbors.

That sort of freedom from city regs is part of why I like living "in the county," but I have to recognize that it limits my options when dealing with annoying neighbors. I imagine it's probably the same where you live.

The penal code, which covers the entire state, also has noise laws.they could apply to barking dogs and loud neighbors.

[sjfcontrol]

I don't know what the layout of the OP's property is, but if an officer (or anybody) looked over my fence ( or gate) into my back yard, he indeed would be either on my property, or on one of my neighbor's.

There is nothing wrong with him being on your property.

It was in response to your comment here... viewtopic.php?f=83&t=71540#p893525" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[nightmare69]

Im sure your dog was barking plenty before someone called the police. Ive had it happen were I live, neighbor's dog barking nonstop all hours of the night and the owner either not knowing (asleep) or act like they know nothing about it. Or they say "my dog don't bark just to be barking, if it barks then its for a good reason". We had a neighbor who was forced to put a bark shock collar on his dog or get rid of it due to the constant all night barking. Every obnoxious dog owner seems to have the same story, my dog don't bark. Im not saying this is the case with you OP, just saying you may not hear what your dog does while your asleep.

[jbarn]

I don't know what the layout of the OP's property is, but if an officer (or anybody) looked over my fence ( or gate) into my back yard, he indeed would be either on my property, or on one of my neighbor's.

There is nothing wrong with him being on your property.

It was in response to your comment here... viewtopic.php?f=83&t=71540#p893525" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see your point? There is nothing wromg with an officer looking over your fence even he he has to traipse across your front yard to do so.

[sjfcontrol]

I don't know what the layout of the OP's property is, but if an officer (or anybody) looked over my fence ( or gate) into my back yard, he indeed would be either on my property, or on one of my neighbor's.

There is nothing wrong with him being on your property.

It was in response to your comment here... viewtopic.php?f=83&t=71540#p893525" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see your point? There is nothing wromg with an officer looking over your fence even he he has to traipse across your front yard to do so.

Well, it's minor, but you said the officer didn't enter his yard. If he looked over the gate, he was most likely in his yard.

[03Lightningrocks]

I don't know what the layout of the OP's property is, but if an officer (or anybody) looked over my fence ( or gate) into my back yard, he indeed would be either on my property, or on one of my neighbor's.

There is nothing wrong with him being on your property.

It was in response to your comment here... viewtopic.php?f=83&t=71540#p893525" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see your point? There is nothing wromg with an officer looking over your fence even he he has to traipse across your front yard to do so.

Well, it's minor, but you said the officer didn't enter his yard. If he looked over the gate, he was most likely in his yard.

Now you folks have done it. You got me to thinking. for some reason I thought a cop could enter my yard any time they needed to if investigating a possible crime or nuisance in progress.

[sjfcontrol]

I don't know what the layout of the OP's property is, but if an officer (or anybody) looked over my fence ( or gate) into my back yard, he indeed would be either on my property, or on one of my neighbor's.

There is nothing wrong with him being on your property.

It was in response to your comment here... viewtopic.php?f=83&t=71540#p893525" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see your point? There is nothing wromg with an officer looking over your fence even he he has to traipse across your front yard to do so.

Well, it's minor, but you said the officer didn't enter his yard. If he looked over the gate, he was most likely in his yard.

Now you folks have done it. You got me to thinking. for some reason I thought a cop could enter my yard any time they needed to if investigating a possible crime or nuisance in progress.

Actually, me too. I'm wondering if there is a difference between walking (across the property) to the front door, and looking over the gate into the back yard.

[Keith B]

This is my take. An officer would need a search warrant to enter enclosed property, but un-posted property is not nessecarily off-limits if they are investigating a call. Looking over the fence is OK if easily visible from standing in the yard or public property, but having to make an extra effort to climb or scale the fence or cross a significant amount of your property to get there would not be. The only time an officer can enter enclosed property without a warrant is for exigent circumstances

Probable cause along with exigent circumstances may justify a search or entry without a warrant. This is also known as the “emergency doctrine.” Article 14.05 of the Code of Criminal Procedure also includes a provision that authorizes officers to enter homes without a warrant with exigent circumstances. Exigent circumstances cases typically involve:
• protection of life (first aid; extracting children who appear in danger; protecting an undercover officer or informer; or making a protective sweep);
• protection of property (such as extinguishing a fire or stopping a burglary);
• preventing destruction of evidence; and
• pursuing a fleeing felon (“hot pursuit”).

Barking dog complaints don't justify an warrantless search.

So, if he just looked over you fence easily, then probably didn't need a warrant. However, unless he was able to enter and get to your back fence without crossing a major portion of your property, he should have contacted you first IMO.

[SewTexas]

Im sure your dog was barking plenty before someone called the police. Ive had it happen were I live, neighbor's dog barking nonstop all hours of the night and the owner either not knowing (asleep) or act like they know nothing about it. Or they say "my dog don't bark just to be barking, if it barks then its for a good reason". We had a neighbor who was forced to put a bark shock collar on his dog or get rid of it due to the constant all night barking. Every obnoxious dog owner seems to have the same story, my dog don't bark. Im not saying this is the case with you OP, just saying you may not hear what your dog does while your asleep.

unless every dog in the neighborhood was barking and she was answering, I tend to doubt his was barking at all, he's already said his dog doesn't like the dark. "She goes out, does her business then comes back in" why would she have stayed out? It's much more likely that the neighbor called in, what we call in the homeschool community, an "anonymous tip".

[jbarn]

I don't know what the layout of the OP's property is, but if an officer (or anybody) looked over my fence ( or gate) into my back yard, he indeed would be either on my property, or on one of my neighbor's.

There is nothing wrong with him being on your property.

It was in response to your comment here... viewtopic.php?f=83&t=71540#p893525" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see your point? There is nothing wromg with an officer looking over your fence even he he has to traipse across your front yard to do so.

Well, it's minor, but you said the officer didn't enter his yard. If he looked over the gate, he was most likely in his yard.

I gotcha. I should have been more clear. An officer can enter a non fenced area is what I mean.

[jbarn]

I don't know what the layout of the OP's property is, but if an officer (or anybody) looked over my fence ( or gate) into my back yard, he indeed would be either on my property, or on one of my neighbor's.

There is nothing wrong with him being on your property.

It was in response to your comment here... viewtopic.php?f=83&t=71540#p893525" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see your point? There is nothing wromg with an officer looking over your fence even he he has to traipse across your front yard to do so.

Well, it's minor, but you said the officer didn't enter his yard. If he looked over the gate, he was most likely in his yard.

Now you folks have done it. You got me to thinking. for some reason I thought a cop could enter my yard any time they needed to if investigating a possible crime or nuisance in progress.

Actually, me too. I'm wondering if there is a difference between walking (across the property) to the front door, and looking over the gate into the back yard.

No, there is ni difference. Entering a fenced yard would be different. But, depending on the situation, a warrantless entry of the fenced yard might be justified,

[jbarn]

Im sure your dog was barking plenty before someone called the police. Ive had it happen were I live, neighbor's dog barking nonstop all hours of the night and the owner either not knowing (asleep) or act like they know nothing about it. Or they say "my dog don't bark just to be barking, if it barks then its for a good reason". We had a neighbor who was forced to put a bark shock collar on his dog or get rid of it due to the constant all night barking. Every obnoxious dog owner seems to have the same story, my dog don't bark. Im not saying this is the case with you OP, just saying you may not hear what your dog does while your asleep.

unless every dog in the neighborhood was barking and she was answering, I tend to doubt his was barking at all, he's already said his dog doesn't like the dark. "She goes out, does her business then comes back in" why would she have stayed out? It's much more likely that the neighbor called in, what we call in the homeschool community, an "anonymous tip".

So you are willing to ignore the fact the the LEO, an uninterested third party, told the OP he heard the dog barking? Really?

[jmra]

Im sure your dog was barking plenty before someone called the police. Ive had it happen were I live, neighbor's dog barking nonstop all hours of the night and the owner either not knowing (asleep) or act like they know nothing about it. Or they say "my dog don't bark just to be barking, if it barks then its for a good reason". We had a neighbor who was forced to put a bark shock collar on his dog or get rid of it due to the constant all night barking. Every obnoxious dog owner seems to have the same story, my dog don't bark. Im not saying this is the case with you OP, just saying you may not hear what your dog does while your asleep.

unless every dog in the neighborhood was barking and she was answering, I tend to doubt his was barking at all, he's already said his dog doesn't like the dark. "She goes out, does her business then comes back in" why would she have stayed out? It's much more likely that the neighbor called in, what we call in the homeschool community, an "anonymous tip".

So you are willing to ignore the fact the the LEO, an uninterested third party, told the OP he heard the dog barking? Really?

The dog was barking because someone came up to the fence at night. That is exactly what a dog is supposed to do. Have you ever had a dog?