“Bachelor” star Sean Lowe details being attacked twice by his own dog during a backyard barbecue, sustaining injuries that required stitches after the dog turned on him.

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The incidents left a household of five shaken — Lowe, his wife Catherine Lowe and their three children, Samuel, Isaiah and Mia — and prompted a response from law enforcement and an ambulance service after the second attack. An animal shelter later sought to give Moose a new home. Rescue dogs like Moose often have behavioral issues, including aggression and anxiety, which can stem from past experiences or insufficient training.

Lowe said drifting smoke set off his home’s fire alarm during the barbecue, and that Moose began “freaking out” and “biting my feet aggressively” before the first attack. “I’m trying to waft the smoke, and that aggression towards my feet, then he just went to me, and it’s a straight dog attack,” Lowe said, describing a sudden change in the dog’s behavior. According to experts, rescue organizations assess a dog’s temperament through standardized evaluations to gauge their reactions to stimuli, which could include similar triggers to the ones that affected Moose.

In recounting the scene, Lowe used stark language to convey the severity of his injuries and the immediate aftermath. He described seeing “pools of blood all over the floor” and said the wounds required stitches. Common behavioral issues in rescue dogs like Moose often include nuisance behaviors and aggression, which can unfortunately lead to incidents like these.

The second attack occurred hours later the same day, when responders were called to the scene; law enforcement and an ambulance service attended to the incident. Officials transported or dealt with Moose afterward, and an animal shelter sought to find the boxer a new home following the attacks. Pet owners can help prevent anxiety-related behaviors in dogs by implementing socialization and training practices from an early age, which can mitigate aggressive reactions.

Lowe spoke about the emotional impact of the attacks, stressing his relief that his children and his wife were not injured. “The only PTSD I have is the thought of, ‘What if it had been my children?’ Because he absolutely would have killed my children, or my wife for that matter,” he said.

Even as he described fear and distress, Lowe expressed a complicated attachment to the dog. “We miss our dog, as crazy as it sounds,” he said, capturing the conflicted feelings that followed the episodes. Friends and family who were at the barbecue helped in the immediate response to the first attack, and the presence of medical responders at the second scene underscored the seriousness of the repeated bites. Lowe required medical care for wounds from the attacks and received stitches.

The sequence — alarm triggered by smoke, a violent reaction from a rescue boxer, a second confrontation hours later and the involvement of both emergency responders and an animal shelter — left the family making difficult decisions about the dog’s future. An animal shelter stepped in with efforts to place Moose in a new home after the incidents. The family’s ordeal has drawn attention to the complexities of adopting rescue dogs, which often come with unique challenges requiring patience and understanding.

In his account, Lowe emphasized how quickly a pet’s behavior can change in a single day and how that volatility affected his sense of safety in his own yard. “I just can’t express to you the emotions that I was feeling. He just makes a beeline right at me, and it’s like survival time,” he said.

The reporting of the response to the second attack has been carried by national outlets; details about the on-scene actions of responders were described by local reporting such as CBS News.

Where things stand now: Lowe has received medical treatment for the injuries that required stitches, Moose has been handled by an animal shelter seeking to rehome the dog, and the family continues to process the events that unfolded over the course of those two days in March.

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Original reporting: view the original article.