Kyle Blanchard and his fiancee, Rebecca Neil, pose on their porch with their own dogs Shadow, Charlie and Chloe. After a Rottweiler attacked the small dogs of a neighbor, Kyle jumped in, grabbed the big dog and pried the small dog from its jaws. Photo by John Gurzinski.

While others hesitated in horror, Kyle Blanchard rushed a rampaging Rottweiler.

The former high school football standout was working on his car Nov. 12 when he heard screaming. He darted from his garage and saw the 80-pound beast attacking a neighbor and her two Chihuahuas as the little dogs' owner pleaded with the Rottweiler's handler.

"I heard them yelling at the other lady to keep her dog away," Blanchard, 22, said last month. The Chihuahua owner "pulled up on the Chihuahuas' leashes, and she grabbed the one but didn't get the other one. Then the Rottweiler realized one of the Chihuahuas was unprotected, and it went after it. It had the Chihuahua in its mouth, and I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and yanked it off."

The Chihuahuas' owner had herself tried to do the same thing, said Blanchard. "But she was a small lady. She was about as big as the dog was."

Blanchard's quick instincts rescued the larger of the two Chihuahuas, named Juliet, and saved their owner, Sandy Smith, from serious injury and the sight of her smaller pet being torn to shreds.

The smaller dog, a 7-pound mini-Chihuahua named Loco, was breathing when Blanchard dislodged its limp body from the jaws of the Rottweiler, but the 8-year-old pet died later that evening after emergency treatment failed.

"The dog had its teeth all the way around Loco and it was shaking him," Smith said. "Loco died a horrible death. His lungs were bruised and he bled to death."

The woman walking the Rottweiler had the dog on a leash, but she lost control, and the large dog broke free near Smith's home on Willowtree Drive, near Washington Avenue and U.S. Highway 95 in northwest Las Vegas.

Smith, who nominated Blanchard for Nevada Profiles in Courage 2006, said she was stunned a stranger would risk his safety to protect her and her dogs.

"He was just amazing," she said. "He came out there, and he got hold of that dog. I don't know how you pry open a Rottweiler's mouth, but he did it in front of me and several other people. ... He had no fear. He grabbed that dog, opened its mouth and got our dog, Loco, out of its mouth."

Blanchard, a former 2002 All-Conference offensive tackle at Centennial High School, said he couldn't just stand there like the others.

"I couldn't stand watching a dog attack another dog without doing something," he said. "I have jumped in front of a drunk man hitting a woman, but I had never jumped into a dog fight before."

Blanchard said he owned a dog as a child growing up near Detroit, but that he couldn't have a pet when he moved to an apartment in Las Vegas, with his father, years ago.

Now, he and his fiancee own three dogs. They have two golden Labradors named Charlie and Chloe, and a Pomeranian named Shadow.

"As soon as I moved out, that was the first thing I bought, even before I bought furniture," he said. "They are a big part of my family. They sleep with us, and they each got three presents when we went to my dad's house for Christmas."

Las Vegas Animal Control officials said last month they haven't had any luck contacting the owner of the dog, Sean Goodman. Even though Goodman's friend was walking the Rottweiler at the time of the incident, animal-control officers have asked the city attorney's office to prosecute Goodman on a misdemeanor charge of having a dog at large.

Goodman could face a fine of up to $1,000. If he fails to appear for his court date, a warrant will be issued for his arrest, city officials said.

For Smith and her roommate, who co-owned the Chihuahuas, a $1,200 veterinary bill was a significant financial blow, but not nearly as devastating as losing their longtime companion.

However, if any good came of the awful episode it was meeting their neighbor, Smith said.

"When something like this happens, its just really nice to know that somebody would do something like this." Smith said. "Sometimes I think its difficult to find nice people in this town, and it's just humbling to know one lives right next door."

Coming Wednesday: A 45-year-old singer and actor plies his trade to help those in need.