Fate of rescue dog who left reality star 'fighting for life' after attacking him twice in 12 hours

41-year-old Lowe, who has been married to his wife Catherine Giudici for 11 years, took to his Instagram on Monday (March 17) to explain that his newly adopted family dog Moose hurt him twice over the weekend.

He said that during the first incident, which happened when he was cooking with his friends, Moose began attacking him as he was trying to get the smoke alarm to stop beeping. He said as he was trying to waft the smoke away from the alarm the dog began “ripping into the flesh of [his] arm”. He said: “As I’m holding the dish rag, Moose comes up and, like, bites it and kind of nips my finger really aggressively, which is something that he does not do. So, you know, I kind of gave him a, ‘no Moose’.”

He added that Moose didn’t stop and his bites were so forceful that he ended up with holes in his shoes. He continued: “At this point again, there’s so much chaos going on with the alarm going off, I give him like a very stern like ‘Moose. No. No’.” But that didn’t stop the dog, and in fact that’s when he says he was properly attacked.

“And it was right about that moment where he shows his teeth at me and just attacks me, and I don’t mean like bite and run off like a lot of dogs do when they’re scared or defensive. I mean, attacks me, and I feel him just kind of ripping into the flesh of my arm. And at this point, I am doing everything I possibly can just to fend this dog off,” he said.

The TV husband said that he was then “bleeding badly,” but he was able to get Moose in to the back garden - but he soon came back inside. The star said he was left feeling like he was “fighting for his life”.

He said: “He comes back through the door and attacks me for a second time, and not trying to be dramatic, but I honestly just felt like I am fighting for my life here against a dog. Not just a dog. My dog, right? Like, he’s my dog. We’ve only had him for a little under three months, but like he’s my dog.”

Lowe said when he looked at the bite on his arm, he said it was “so deep” that blood was “squirting.” “My first thought is ‘I think that dog may have nicked an artery’,” he continued. Some of the reality star’s friends rushed him to hospital and, once there, he received emergency medical attention and got stitches in “five or six different places” on his arm. He then returned home, by which time his other friends had cleaned up what he called a “literal pool” of blood inside his home.

"Born-again virgin” Lowe picked Giudici on the season 17 finale of The Bachelor. After getting married in the franchise’s first-ever live TV wedding in 2014, the couple welcomed two sons, Samuel and Isaiah, and a daughter named Mia.

A “heartbroken” and “confused” Lowe faced the reality on Friday morning that he couldn’t keep Moose anymore out of fears for his own safety and that of his wife and their three young chilren. Samuel is 8 years old, Isaiah is aged 6, while Mia is age 5. Later that day, the dad-of-three was attacked for a second time by Moose.

This time, Lowe was able to “wrestle [his dog] to the ground”. He said: “This dog is so strong, he’s so explosive, but I’m able to wrestle him to the ground. I’ve got a hold of his collar, but I know that he’s ripped my arm open, and I just know, like I’m fighting for my life here, like I feel like if this dog gets up, he is going to kill me.”

Lowe was able to sit on Moose to restrain him, where he had to remain for 10 minutes before police officers arrived, after the authorities were called by his neighbours. “It took everything I had to control this dog,” he said. “And like, I’m 220 pounds. If it were anyone else, he would have killed my children or my wife, but I was able to hold him for 10 minutes until the cops came, and then the cops had a hard time getting control of him.”

Once Moose was taken away by authorities, Lowe went back to the hospital to get more stitches. After the star shared his story, many of his fans said that they were pleased he was alright but also questioned what had happened to the dog.

Now Lowe shared that he was currently consulting with a no-kill shelter and animal control officers to figure out a solution for Moose, which hopefully wouldn't require the dog to be euthanised.

Lowe concluded his original video to say “I don’t blame Moose a bit”. He added: “It wasn’t Moose’s fault. He — I think it’s clear — 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.”

The star added that prior to the attacks, Moose “really didn’t show any signs” that he would become violent. “He was great around my kids. He was great in the house. He was just an affectionate, lovable boxer,” he said.

Lowe said he will “have scarred arms for the rest of my life,” but said he “can live with that” because he’s “super grateful” it was him and not his wife or children that Moose attacked. “ He said that his family are upset by what happened, and that it means they’ve had to let Moose go. “We miss our dog as weird as that sounds. He was a really, really good dog,” the dad-of-three said.

Lowe and Giudici adopted Moose in January. “Santa and Daddy took the kids’ requests for a dog for Christmas into consideration,” the pair wrote on Instagram at the time. “We are happy to add this 7 year old (we think) rescue boxer into our zoo. We hope he loves us as much as we have already grown to love him.”

”Previously, the couple rehomed a Bullmastiff puppy, Gus, in 2023 one year after adopting him. In a post shared on his Instagram Story at the time, Lowe said he and his wife had decided to rehome the dog because they were concerned after the dog “snapped at/bit” their daughter Mia.