Last week, a bony dog, a German-shepherd mix, wandered onto Dave Street and into the hearts of some neighborhood kids.

At the same time, a truck driver from Ironton, Ohio, was losing hope that he would ever see his dog again.

Marvin Cecil had been searching frantically for his dog, BA, since Oct. 31. The dog ran off after Cecil rammed his Freightliner truck into a lamppost in the Hanes Mall parking lot to avoid hitting an oncoming car.

As Cecil tended to the damage on his truck, BA hopped out of the cab and disappeared. Cecil spent the next two days driving his truck around the area. He said he put 150 miles on it searching a 1-mile area around the mall and Stratford Road.

"Trust me," he said, "I know people were wondering about this crazy truck driver, getting out and hollering, "BA!" "'What's a BA?' 'What's he hollering for?'" Cecil said he imagined people wondering.

He posted a notice on Forsyth County Animal Control's Web site and left Winston-Salem broken-hearted. Cecil travels about 125,000 miles a year, and BA is his constant companion.

Unknown to Cecil, BA showed up on Dave Street, off Ebert Street, last week, Jennie Mejan said. The dog quickly took a liking to her boys, Jarod and Ben, and Janet English's son, C.J. The dog would gently push the boys over and plop on them.

"He knocked one of my friends over and licked his face like crazy," said Jarod, who is 8.

Janet English took in BA and fed him. She and Mejan contacted Lassie Come Home-NC, a Web site that tries to reunite lost pets with their owners. After some digging, Jill East, who runs the Web site, eventually discovered Cecil's lost-dog posting on animal control's Web site.

Cecil said he teared up when he got the news about BA. He had kept his dog bowl, treats and favorite Harley-Davidson blanket in a corner of the sleeper of his truck -- BA's favorite spot -- in expectation of the dog's return.

On Saturday, on his way to Charlotte, Cecil plans to swing by Winston-Salem to pick up BA from English. He offered to compensate her for the money she spent feeding the dog, but she refused. He does plan to make a donation to Lassie Come Home-NC.

Cecil said he is grateful to the Mejans and the Englishes.

"I've been a truck driver for 31 years, and good things usually don't happen to truck drivers," Cecil said. "I'm ecstatic, to say the least. Trust me, this is a godsend."

As for the boys on Dave Street, they seem to understand why BA is leaving.

"I'm happy because he has his home again," Jarod said.