8 Dog Rules That Change From One Maryland Town to the Next
Owning a dog in Maryland comes with an unusual problem: The rules don’t stay put.
A quick trip across town can turn something completely acceptable into a surprisingly expensive mistake.
These are the dog rules that change from one Maryland town to the next.
Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Local animal control ordinances vary by Maryland town and county and are subject to change.
1. Ocean City’s Boardwalk Curfew
Ocean City, Maryland’s busiest beach town, bans dogs from its Boardwalk and its beach for five months every year.
That’s May 1 through September 30, the town’s entire tourist season.
No exceptions.
The rest of the year, a leashed dog can walk the boards without a ticket.
Ocean City also runs a fenced Dog Playground at 94th Street, open daily from dawn to dusk, where a dog can go leash-free once inside.
A dog whose owner lives in town pays $50 a year.
Everyone else pays $100.
A short walk south in Bethany or north in Fenwick and none of that applies because those beaches answer to Delaware, not Ocean City’s summer calendar.
2. Edmonston’s Pit Bull Ban
Edmonston bans pit bull ownership outright.
The Prince George’s County town’s code makes it unlawful for anyone to own, keep, or harbor a Pit Bull Terrier within town limits.
A dog already living in Edmonston before November 1, 1996, could stay under the town’s grandfather clause.
That dog still needed county registration, an identification tag, and a muzzle and leash any time it left the yard.
Break the rule today and the fine starts at $300, then rises to $500 for every violation after that.
Prince George’s County itself doesn’t ban the breed at all.
Edmonston does.
3. Ridgely’s Dangerous-Dog Insurance Mandate
Ridgely’s town code treats every pit bull as a dangerous dog automatically.
Its ordinance names three breeds: Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and American Pit Bull Terrier, plus any mix of them.
Own one inside the Caroline County town and the law presumes the dog dangerous, no bite history required.
That label carries a price tag.
A big one.
An owner has to show the town and Caroline County Animal Control proof of $100,000 in liability insurance or a surety bond before keeping the dog legally.
Miles away in Edmonston, the same breeds don’t get a chance to buy that coverage.
The dogs are banned outright there instead.
4. Colmar Manor’s Five-Animal Permit
Colmar Manor allows four dogs in a house with no extra paperwork.
The fifth changes everything.
Keep five or more animals older than four months, whether dogs, cats, or anything bigger than a guinea pig.
This Prince George’s County town then requires an animal hobby permit.
The town permit itself requires proof of a county animal hobby permit first, plus an annual town fee.
Skip a renewal, or break the town’s animal rules, and the police chief can pull the permit.
Thirty minutes north in Baltimore County, the number is smaller and the paperwork means something different.
That county caps a household at three dogs before requiring a kennel license, the same category it uses for boarding businesses.
Psst! How much do you know about Maryland’s dog history and its rules? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
Quiz
Maryland Dog IQ
Answer nine questions on Maryland’s dog history, breed law, and licensing quirks. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
In 1807, two dogs rescued off Maryland’s coast from a sinking ship became the foundation of what now-famous breed?
5. Rockville's Separate Rulebook
Rockville doesn't answer to Montgomery County's dog rules at all.
Montgomery County runs its countywide pet-licensing system, but Rockville and Gaithersburg residents are carved out of it and have to license through their city instead.
It costs more, too.
A spayed dog runs $12 a year in Rockville.
Drive the license paperwork over to Anne Arundel County, and the identical tag costs $2.
Same dog, same rabies certificate, six times the price, depending only on which town line the owner lives inside.
6. Landover Hills' Four-Dog Ceiling
Landover Hills draws a hard line at four animals.
The Prince George's County town's code makes it unlawful to own, keep, or harbor more than four dogs, cats, or other licensed animals over four months old on one property.
No permit buys a fifth.
Thirteen miles south in Anne Arundel County, a fifth dog doesn't end anything.
The county only requires a Dog Fancier License and a minimum lot size once a household passes four, no ban attached.
What Counts Toward Landover Hills' Four
Landover Hills' four-animal cap doesn't count every animal in the house.
The rule only applies to licensed animals four months of age or older.
A litter of new puppies under that age doesn't push a household past the limit, even if the count in the house rises past four for a few months.
7. Berwyn Heights' Balcony Rule
Berwyn Heights won't let a dog sit on a balcony alone.
The Prince George's County town's code makes it a violation to keep a dog or cat out on a balcony unless a human adult is out there with it.
The leash rule runs a little looser than most.
Two feet longer.
Berwyn Heights allows an eight-foot leash, past the six-foot cap set in Colmar Manor's code.
8. Riverdale Park's Kennel Setback
Riverdale Park draws a line around every backyard kennel.
The town's code bans keeping a dog pen or kennel within thirty feet of any building except the owner's residence.
Thirty feet, no less.
A neighbor's garage counts against that line.
So does a rented duplex next door, or a shed on the lot behind it.
The kennel also has to stay sanitary and "free from disagreeable odors," in the ordinance's exact words.
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