Bachelor Sean Lowe Viciously Attacked by His Rescue Dog: ‘Fighting for My Life’

Sean Lowe was rushed to the ER over the weekend after his rescue dog attacked.

The former Bachelor shared the story on Instagram, his wife Catherine by his side for moral support.

The couple adopted their boxer Moose about three months ago and never had a problem until a smoke alarm triggered some aggressive behavior a few days ago.

Sean explained, “Our family has been through something pretty traumatic over the weekend… I’ve debated on whether or not we should share this publicly… but I might as well get out ahead of it.” 

He said on Thursday he had some friends over for a barbecue while Catherine took the kids to the mall. He had the doors and windows open and “some of the smoke from the barbecue started to drift inside and our smoke alarm started going off.”

Sean tried to “waft the smoke away” with a dish rag and “Moose comes up and bites it and nips my finger aggressively.”

Lowe responded, “No, Moose,” but the alarm continued and that’s when Moose begins to bite at his feet.

“He was biting my feet so hard he actually put holes in my shoes and it was hurting my feet,” Sean said, adding that he told Moose sternly, “No,” as he tried to deal with the alarm.

The reality star recalled, “It was right about that moment where he shows his teeth at me and just attacks me. I don’t mean like bite and run off, like a lot of dogs do when they are scared or defensive, I mean attacks me.”

He went on, “I feel him just kind of ripping into the flesh of my arm. At this point I’m doing everything I can just to fend this dog off me.”

At that point, he knew he was “bleeding badly” and he was trying to “get him out the door.”

Despite getting Moose outside, the boxer got back in and attacked a second time. Sean said, “I honestly felt like, ‘I am fighting for my life here.’”

After getting him outside again, Sean said, “I looked down at my arm.” Lowe then lifted up his arm so fans could see bite marks, bruises, and stitches.

Pointing to an inches-long, stitched-up wound, he said, “That was cut so deep and I just see blood squirting, probably a couple feet… My first thought was, ‘I think that dog may have nicked an artery.’”

His friends rushed him to the ER and he got stitches in five or six places on his arm.

The couple also recalled the mess that was left in their home, including “a literal pool of blood on our floor.”

The incident left Sean “confused” and “heartbroken,” and he knew he couldn’t keep Moose in the house out of concern for everyone’s safety.

He spoke with animal control, the adoption agency where he got Moose, and no-kill shelters as well.

As they were sorting things out, Lowe’s parents offered to pick up the kids so Sean and Catherine could rest. Once they got to the house, Sean was helping to load the kids into the car when Moose got out and attacked him again!

The wind had blown some doors open, allowing Moose to escape. “Going through a dog attack is pretty darn traumatic. Having to relive it less than 12 hours later — seeing that dog running straight at you is a feeling I don’t think I ever want to experience again,” he said. “Not to mention my arm was useless, because it was all stitched up.”

Sean went on, “He made a beeline right at me and just lunged and started attacking me again… and I’m just saying, ‘No, no, no.’”

Sean said he could feel the dog “ripping into my flesh,” but he was able to “wrestle him to the ground.” All he knew was, “I’m fighting for my life here. If this dog gets up, he is going to kill me.”

Lowe said, “It took everything I had to control this dog, and I’m 220 lbs.,” adding, “If it were anyone else, he would have killed my children or my wife.”

After holding him down for 10 minutes, the police were able to come and take over, though they struggled to control Moose as well.

Moose was, of course, removed from the home at that point.

Sean showed his other injured arm, saying he had to go back to the ER and get even more stitches.

Heartbroken, he said, “I don’t blame Moose a bit… It wasn’t Moose’s fault. I think it is clear he experienced a lot of trauma before we got him and had something neurologically wrong with him where just a switch flipped and he turned into an absolute killer, which was so weird. He really didn’t show any signs. He was great around my kids, he was great in the house. He was an affectionate lovable boxer.”

Lowe said he was thankful to come out the other side “relatively unscathed,” adding, “I’ll have scarred arms the rest of my life, but I can live with that.”

Sean did confess, “I play this ‘what if?’ game in my head,” wondering what would have happened if the smoke alarm went off while Moose was sleeping in bed with the kids.

He ended the video saying, “We’re torn up about it. And we miss our dog, as crazy as it sounds.”

In 2023, the family also had to rehome a bullmastiff after it bit their then 6-year-old Samuel on the head.

At the time, Sean explained, “One night several weeks ago, Samuel bent down to pet Gus and Gus bit him on the side of the head."

He added, “The result was a trip to the E.R. and a staple in the head.”