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Dedicated in memory to the real Blaze, a wonderful young dog who was an unlikely friend to me back in my paper girl days. Dogs are a paper carrier's mortal enemy, but Blaze was a sweetheart and loved unconditionally. I never knew what happened to her.

Wherever she is, I hope she's happy. Blaze deserved the world!

Blaze was just a yearling puppy when I met her, a big, ungainly bundle of brown and black tied up with a bit of plastic yellow rope in a carport. With the memory of many German Shepherd crosses like her charging me and snarling at my approach, I moved towards her with great caution, conscious that to get to my assigned delivery door at her house, I would have to go through her. I was ready to bark the same snarling command that I barked at all the other German Shepherd cross dogs that lived on my route but I need not have even thought of this contingency, for Blaze leapt up in utter silence with a gigantic lovely pit bull smile on her face. She bounced at the end of her line, wagging her tail like mad in silent demand that I pet her. She was no guard dog - she crowded against me in adoration as I put her family's paper on their step in their carport and she nearly knocked me over leaning against my leg as I paused to scratch her ears, telling her what a good dog she was. I hugged her and fished around for her brass name tag which hung from a worn nilon collar. All the while she adored me and it was then that I learned her name was Blaze and a Blaze she was - a Blaze of pure, undiluted love.

This dog was a queen amongst pooches and for several years, along with a playful black Labrador puppy named Scout, she was my very best dog friend on my paper route. She never barked once and never gave me any reason to fear her, save that she might keep me too long at her house as she demanded her due loving.

The moral? NO BAD DOGS, JUST BAD OWNERS. Blaze was a pit bull, German Shepherd cross but there wasn't a single mean bone in her entire body. She was well cared for and well adored. No dog is predisposed to aggression - aggression can only be taught. For her German Shepherd blood, Blaze could have been my worst enemy as many of her German Shepherd cross brethren were, yet instead she was my best friend and she was a damn good dog.

I think as a paper carrier, the person who bore the brunt of the bad behaviour from every single dog in the neighbourhood, I should know what an aggressive, ill-trained dog looks like. I've been stalked, snapped at, snarled at and charged. I had far more canine nemesis than friends from a Great Dane who just did not like me, to a German Shepherd who stalked me halfway up a hill from its house and another German Shepherd cross named Keisha who was my worst enemy. I'll never know what Keisha was crossed with, but I know one thing for certain - it wasn't pit bull - and she, of all the dogs, was the one who would have most likely have done me serious harm if she could have, if I had not been so good at demanding her respect with my body language and snarling voice when I shouted "DOWN!" at her in the same tone that she barked at me.

Because I knew Blaze, a dog who was more pit bull than shepherd, nobody can ever convince me that pit bulls are quintessentially bad, because they're not. She was one of the friendliest and most loving dogs that I have ever met. And the shepherds who were bad? Again, owner fault - not enough socialization when young, or lack of knowledge of the German Shepherd breed, which would have told them that there is no reason to train a shepherd to guard, for they will do it because they love you without being told. I've stood by as a dog snarled at me and a owner told me "Oh, they're usually not like this," when a few days later, their neighbour remarked as they worried about my safety, "Their dog bit my daughter the other day."

It is always owner fault. ALWAYS.

End of story.

By the way? I still love German Shepherds. Just 'cus a few have chased me isn't a reason to hate their breed, or hate Great Danes because Aspen took a disliking to me. I thought Aspen was beautiful and I think Great Danes are lovely dogs. The trick with dogs is this: never take their behaviour personally, or mistakenly believe that all dogs of a breed are misbehaved just because you met one that was. Thank you.

The only two dogs who have ever actually bitten me were a Golden Retriever and a Chihuahua. I still like both breeds and I do not blame the dogs for their attacks upon me because I know that it was MY fault that I was bitten, NOT theirs! I did something which in dog language, was wrong and they responded accordingly, as was their right.

I made her collar pink to emphasize her cuteness. I believe it was actually green or red and really scrappy looking. She was owned by a young dude, an old friend of my brother's.

Blaze belongs to herself.
(c)Rosanna P. Brost All Rights Reserved.

Description

Dedicated in memory to the real Blaze, a wonderful young dog who was an unlikely friend to me back in my paper girl days. Dogs are a paper carrier's mortal enemy, but Blaze was a sweetheart and loved unconditionally. I never knew what happened to her.

Wherever she is, I hope she's happy. Blaze deserved the world!

Blaze was just a yearling puppy when I met her, a big, ungainly bundle of brown and black tied up with a bit of plastic yellow rope in a carport. With the memory of many German Shepherd crosses like her charging me and snarling at my approach, I moved towards her with great caution, conscious that to get to my assigned delivery door at her house, I would have to go through her. I was ready to bark the same snarling command that I barked at all the other German Shepherd cross dogs that lived on my route but I need not have even thought of this contingency, for Blaze leapt up in utter silence with a gigantic lovely pit bull smile on her face. She bounced at the end of her line, wagging her tail like mad in silent demand that I pet her. She was no guard dog - she crowded against me in adoration as I put her family's paper on their step in their carport and she nearly knocked me over leaning against my leg as I paused to scratch her ears, telling her what a good dog she was. I hugged her and fished around for her brass name tag which hung from a worn nilon collar. All the while she adored me and it was then that I learned her name was Blaze and a Blaze she was - a Blaze of pure, undiluted love.

This dog was a queen amongst pooches and for several years, along with a playful black Labrador puppy named Scout, she was my very best dog friend on my paper route. She never barked once and never gave me any reason to fear her, save that she might keep me too long at her house as she demanded her due loving.

The moral? NO BAD DOGS, JUST BAD OWNERS. Blaze was a pit bull, German Shepherd cross but there wasn't a single mean bone in her entire body. She was well cared for and well adored. No dog is predisposed to aggression - aggression can only be taught. For her German Shepherd blood, Blaze could have been my worst enemy as many of her German Shepherd cross brethren were, yet instead she was my best friend and she was a damn good dog.

I think as a paper carrier, the person who bore the brunt of the bad behaviour from every single dog in the neighbourhood, I should know what an aggressive, ill-trained dog looks like. I've been stalked, snapped at, snarled at and charged. I had far more canine nemesis than friends from a Great Dane who just did not like me, to a German Shepherd who stalked me halfway up a hill from its house and another German Shepherd cross named Keisha who was my worst enemy. I'll never know what Keisha was crossed with, but I know one thing for certain - it wasn't pit bull - and she, of all the dogs, was the one who would have most likely have done me serious harm if she could have, if I had not been so good at demanding her respect with my body language and snarling voice when I shouted "DOWN!" at her in the same tone that she barked at me.

Because I knew Blaze, a dog who was more pit bull than shepherd, nobody can ever convince me that pit bulls are quintessentially bad, because they're not. She was one of the friendliest and most loving dogs that I have ever met. And the shepherds who were bad? Again, owner fault - not enough socialization when young, or lack of knowledge of the German Shepherd breed, which would have told them that there is no reason to train a shepherd to guard, for they will do it because they love you without being told. I've stood by as a dog snarled at me and a owner told me "Oh, they're usually not like this," when a few days later, their neighbour remarked as they worried about my safety, "Their dog bit my daughter the other day."

It is always owner fault. ALWAYS.

End of story.

By the way? I still love German Shepherds. Just 'cus a few have chased me isn't a reason to hate their breed, or hate Great Danes because Aspen took a disliking to me. I thought Aspen was beautiful and I think Great Danes are lovely dogs. The trick with dogs is this: never take their behaviour personally, or mistakenly believe that all dogs of a breed are misbehaved just because you met one that was. Thank you.

The only two dogs who have ever actually bitten me were a Golden Retriever and a Chihuahua. I still like both breeds and I do not blame the dogs for their attacks upon me because I know that it was MY fault that I was bitten, NOT theirs! I did something which in dog language, was wrong and they responded accordingly, as was their right.

I made her collar pink to emphasize her cuteness. I believe it was actually green or red and really scrappy looking. She was owned by a young dude, an old friend of my brother's.

Blaze belongs to herself.
(c)Rosanna P. Brost All Rights Reserved.