ohmidog!

Name: Burger

Age: 3

Breed: Labradoodle

Encountered: At Washington Park, in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: This eye-catching boy drew a lot of attention when he sauntered into the dog park with his owners, mainly because of his silky coat the color of chocolate milk.

Make that chocolate milk that you haven’t quite finished stirring.

His fluffy, curly coat, in varying hues of silvery-brown, made me wonder why he was named Burger, and not Milkshake.

It was only around his eyes that you could clearly distinguish one of the breeds within — a chocolate Lab.

Burger was the first chocolate Labradoodle I’ve met, and I found myself coveting not just his hair color, but his aura — at once distinguished and goofy.

That’s what I want to be when I grow up.

You can find all our Roadside Encounters here.

Name: Dart

Breed: Chihuahua mix

Age: About 13

Encountered: At a Sunday street concert in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: Dart’s owners found him while they were living in Dallas. He was under some railroad tracks. They took him home and named him after the city’s transit system, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, or DART.

He seems to have it pretty cushy now, including his own little lime green beach chair they carry along to make sure he’s comfortable.

(Roadside Encounters are a regular feature of Travels with Ace. To see them all click here.)

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Name: Meatball

Breed: Pug

Age: Turning two this month

Encountered: At a Winston-Salem Dash baseball game

Backstory: Most people get a dog and then come up with a name. Julie Hurd did it the other way around. She came up with a name — Meatball — then started looking for a dog that fit it.

Being a pug, Meatball has that facial expression that seems to be perpetually asking why — in this case, why don’t you give me some of that sandwich, boy?

His puggish perseverance paid off. Meatball got a few bites from his new friend.

To see all our Roadside Encounters, click here.

Name: Tiny

Breed: Miniature Pinscher

Age: Unknown

Encountered: Outside a Thai restaurant in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: I ran into Tiny on my way to a speaking engagement. He was wandering unleashed among the tables in front of the restaurant, leading me to wonder if he might be lost.

Turns out he belonged to members of the restaurant staff, which explained why Tiny acted as if he owned the place, every once in a while peering through the front door, then hopping up on a chair, as if waiting to be served.

To see all of our Roadside Encounters, click here.

Name: Moses

Breed: Otterhound

Age: 3

Encountered: Go Dog Wash, in Winston-Salem

Backstory: Ace was in serious need of bath — has been for a couple of months now — so we popped into a self-service dog wash in Winston-Salem. That’s where we met Moses, looking every bit as full of wisdom as his namesake.

Moses weighs 150 pounds, according to his owner, Jennifer. She’d already washed Moses’ sister (though not by birth), a Samoyed, who waited patiently, barking from time to time, as her human completed the far bigger job.

Jennifer, like me, had some trouble with the token machine, which was not taking credit cards, as it usually does. She had to pack both dogs up — the wet one and the dry one — and drive to the bank and come back. I used up all $10 of tokens wetting Ace down and applying shampoo. He waited, all lathered up, while I tried my last $5 bill in the machine. It didn’t like it. So I had to go next door to a dry cleaners to break a $20. Final cost, counting the dryer: $20. Lesson learned: Get all your tokens beforehand.

Ace was cooperative, until I tried the blow dryer on him. He squirmed, but put up with that. It’s a pretty handy way to wash a dog — and with Ace’s recent mystery back and leg issues, I didn’t want to put him in the slippery bathtub at home. At the dog wash, I just walked him up the ramp, into the giant tub with a rubberized bottom, then washed, rinsed, conditioned and rinsed — all with the nozzle provided.

Moses was even more patient than Ace. He seemed a very mellow dog, sitting perfectly still until his owner was done. Then he decided he needed to shake. A wet otterhound, when he shakes, really parts the water, or I guess, technically, the water parts him. It went everywhere.

(Roadside Encounters are a regular feature of Travels with Ace. To see them all, click here.)

Name: Gatsby

Breed: Great Dane

Age: 3

Encountered: At an outdoor concert by Possum Jenkins in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: We wouldn’t call him spoiled — at least not to his face — but Gatsby had it pretty cushy Saturday night, lounging on the giant dog bed his owners toted along because Gatsby finds the street itself something less than comfortable to lay on.

When I started taking his picture he got up, repositioning himself on the lap of his owner Steve Joiner, who works for Truliant Federal Credit Union, which sponsors the Summer on Trade concert series. Judging from Joiner’s reaction — there was none — Gatsby must do that a lot.

Later, Gatsby reassumed his position on his cushion, paying close attention as Joiner and his wife, Nora Garver, passed snacks back and forth.

(Roadside Encounters are a regular feature of Travels with Ace. To see them all, click here.)

Name: Lily

Age: 3 years

Breed: Goldendoodle

Encountered: At a street concert in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: We ran into about five other dogs when we went to Saturday night’s “Summer on Trade” concert, including Lily, who, unlike some of our other Roadside Encounters, was actually on the road.

Several blocks are closed off for the summer weekend concerts, and Lily seemed happy to be there, drawing lots of admirers. Her humans have another dog at home, a 12-year-old Newfoundland, but she doesn’t get out as much as she used to.

(Roadside Encounters are a regular feature of Travels with Ace. To see them all, click here.)

Name: Muffy

Age: 3 years

Breed: Poodle

Encountered: In downtown Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: The first time Muffy’s owner walked past Ace on the sidewalk, she picked her little poodle up, carrying her to a spot on the sidewalk where she and her friend set up their chairs to listen to a concert.

There, Muffy sat for the duration, on one lap or the other.

As they were leaving, they stopped and talked, and although she still held Muffy in her arms, she didn’t seem as fearful that my dog was going to gobble her’s up.

Muffy’s owner said she’d never had a dog before Muffy. Her mother never liked dogs. But after her mother passed away, she found Muffy at the local humane society and adopted her.

“It’s the best thing I ever did,” she said.

(Roadside Encounters are a regular feature of Travels with Ace. To see them all, click here.)

Name: Clyde

Age: Getting up there

Breed: Everyday Christian

Encountered: At a street concert in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: Ace tugged me over to Clyde, who sat in a motorized scooter on the fringes of the crowd at a concert on Winston-Salem’s Trade Street last night.

He wore sleeveless white t-shirt, white shorts and a white cap.

After petting Ace for a while, Clyde told me he’d recently gotten over prostate cancer, and that he wishes he had a dog.

Only one breed will do, he said, a cocker spaniel. He had one before. He has dropped by the local humane society, but hasn’t had any luck finding one so far.

(Roadside Encounters are a regular feature of Travels with Ace. To see them all, click here.)

Names: Gracie and Chloe

Age: 4 years old

Breed: Golden retrievers

Encountered: Along the Silas Creek Trail in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: Recent transplants from Florida, Gracie and Chloe are getting accustomed to Winston-Salem. They’re shown here walking with their owner, Terry. When he and his wife went to look at them and the rest of the litter, they disagreed on which one they wanted. He liked one of the lighter colored ones, while his wife preferred the darker.

And that’s why Terry walks two dogs.

(Roadside Encounters, a regular feature of Travels with Ace, is a look at some of the dogs and people we met during our year traveling across America. To see them all, click here.)