Personal Injury · Dog Bite Liability
Dog Bite Laws in Tennessee
Whether Tennessee holds a dog owner automatically liable, follows the one-bite rule, or takes a mixed approach, plus landlord liability and the main defenses.
How liability works in Tennessee
A hybrid: the two prongs below apply differently.
If the dog was not under reasonable control and injures you in a public place or lawfully on someone else’s property, the owner is strictly liable. You do not have to prove the dog was ever dangerous or that the owner knew.
Under the "residential exclusion," if the dog injures you while you are on the owner’s own residential, farm, or other noncommercial property, you must prove the owner knew or should have known of the dog’s dangerous propensity.
This is a hybrid that splits by the dog’s legal status.
Landlords & defenses
Who else can be liable, and what defeats a claim.
The statute lists specific carve-outs: a police or military dog on duty, a trespasser on private nonresidential property, a dog protecting its owner from attack, a dog securely confined in a kennel or crate, and provocation by the injured person.
The full picture, with the source
Every field, and any recent development.
| Liability model | Mixed / hybrid |
| Basis | Statute — Tenn. Code §44-8-413 (Dianna Acklen Act of 2007) |
| What it covers | For the strict-liability path, the dog must have been out of reasonable control and you must have been in a public place or lawfully on another’s property. For the residential exclusion, an injury on the owner’s own noncommercial property, you must prove the owner knew or should have known of the dog’s dangerous propensity. |
| Landlord | Generally no. The statute imposes the duty on the dog’s owner. A landlord who does not own or keep the dog is reached only through common-law negligence, needing actual knowledge the dog was dangerous plus the ability to remove it. |
| Main defenses | Residential exclusion (no scienter) · Provocation · Trespassing on nonresidential property · Police / military dog on duty · Dog protecting owner · Dog securely confined |
What Tennessee dog-bite victims get wrong
Tennessee is a mixed state, and the axis it splits on is where the dog was when it hurt you. The Dianna Acklen Act of 2007, codified at Code §44-8-413, gives owners a duty to keep their dog under reasonable control and off the loose. Break that duty and the dog injures someone in public or lawfully on another person’s property, and the owner is strictly liable: it does not matter whether the dog had ever shown a mean streak or the owner knew about it. The catch is the "residential exclusion." If the same dog injures a visitor while it is on the owner’s own residential, farm, or noncommercial property, the victim is thrown back into the old one-bite world and must prove the owner knew or should have known the dog was dangerous. The statute also spells out carve-outs, including police and military dogs on duty, trespassers on nonresidential land, a dog defending its owner, a securely confined dog, and provocation.
Common questions
Is Tennessee a strict-liability state for dog bites?
Only partly. Under Code §44-8-413 the owner is strictly liable when the dog is running at large in public or on another’s property, but the "residential exclusion" requires proof of the owner’s knowledge when the injury happens on the owner’s own residential or farm property. That makes Tennessee a mixed state.
What is Tennessee’s residential exclusion?
If a dog injures someone while on the owner’s own residential, farm, or other noncommercial property, the victim must prove the owner knew or should have known of the dog’s dangerous propensity, rather than relying on strict liability.
What is the Dianna Acklen Act?
It is the 2007 Tennessee law codified at Code §44-8-413 that created strict liability for a dog running at large, while carving out the residential exclusion and a list of defenses.
What defenses can a Tennessee dog owner raise?
The statute lists carve-outs including police or military dogs on duty, a trespasser on nonresidential property, a dog protecting its owner, a dog securely confined in a kennel or crate, and provocation by the injured person.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.