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By Sara Anglin - State Farm Insurance Agent
Your Dog Could Affect Your Home Insurance That 80-pound pit bull mix you adopted from Nashville Humane Association? He's the sweetest creature alive. He...
That 80-pound pit bull mix you adopted from Nashville Humane Association? He's the sweetest creature alive. He sleeps on your pillow, lets your toddler pull his ears, and has never so much as growled at a stranger. None of that matters to your homeowners insurance company.
Breed restrictions on homeowners policies catch Nashville dog owners off guard every single day — sometimes right in the middle of closing on a house, which is about the worst time to discover a coverage problem.
Insurance carriers each maintain their own lists, but you'll see the same breeds show up over and over again:
Some carriers keep short lists of four or five breeds. Others cast a wider net. And here's where it gets tricky for Nashville residents specifically — mixed breeds. If your rescue from Metro Animal Care and Control has any visual characteristics of a restricted breed, some insurers will flag it. That "lab mix" you adopted might be classified differently by an underwriter reviewing a photo.
The restriction can take different forms. Some carriers will flat-out decline to write you a policy. Others will write the policy but exclude any liability claims related to your dog. A few will cover you but charge a significant surcharge. Each scenario creates a different kind of risk for you as a homeowner.
A standard Nashville homeowners policy typically includes $100,000 to $300,000 in personal liability coverage. That coverage kicks in if someone gets injured on your property, including dog bites.
If your dog is excluded from your policy, and your dog bites a neighbor's kid at a backyard cookout in East Nashville or nips the Amazon driver on your porch in Bellevue, you're paying for everything out of pocket. Medical bills. Lost wages. Legal fees. Pain and suffering claims.
Dog bite claims average well into five figures nationally, and severe cases involving surgery or long-term scarring can push into six figures fast. Without liability coverage backing you up, a single incident could wipe out your savings or put your home equity at risk.
An exclusion also means your insurance company won't provide you with legal defense if you're sued — and in Tennessee, that defense alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars even if the claim is ultimately dismissed.
If you're buying a home in Spring 2026 and you own a dog (or plan to adopt one), work insurance into your timeline early — not as an afterthought during the closing process.
Step one: Call your insurance agent before you make an offer. Tell them exactly what breed or breed mix your dog is. If you're unsure of the mix, be upfront about that. Ask specifically whether the breed affects your eligibility or premium.
Step two: If your current carrier restricts your breed, don't panic. Not every company uses the same list. Some carriers have moved away from breed-based restrictions entirely, instead evaluating dogs based on individual bite history. Your agent can shop multiple options.
Step three: Get documentation. If your dog has completed obedience training through a Nashville program, if your vet has behavioral notes on file, or if your dog is a Canine Good Citizen through the AKC, keep those records handy. Some carriers factor this into their decisions.
Step four: Never hide your dog's breed from your insurance company. If you misrepresent your household on an application and a claim comes in later, the insurer can deny the claim and potentially void your policy entirely. That's a catastrophically worse outcome than paying a higher premium or shopping for a different carrier.
Breed restrictions aren't limited to homeowners policies. Renters insurance policies carry the same breed lists, and many Nashville apartment complexes and property management companies in areas like The Gulch, Germantown, and Antioch enforce their own breed restrictions on top of what insurance requires.
If you're renting with a restricted breed, you need both a landlord who allows the dog and a renters insurance policy that covers it. Those two things don't always line up, so check both before signing a lease.
Even if your dog isn't a restricted breed, a prior bite incident on record can trigger the same kind of underwriting problems. Tennessee law holds dog owners strictly liable for bites that occur in public places or when a person is lawfully on private property. Insurance companies track claims databases, and a previous bite claim follows you from carrier to carrier.
On the flip side, a restricted breed with zero incident history and solid training documentation gives you more leverage when shopping for coverage.
Your dog is family. Building the right insurance around your actual household — pets included — is one of the most practical things you can do to protect everything you've worked for. If you're unsure where your dog falls on your current policy, pull it out and read the exclusions page, or call your agent and ask directly. It takes five minutes and could save you from a gap you didn't know existed.