Spike Miller

LUCKY DUCKS:  Spike Miller found a friend this summer when his family adopted Ace, a purebred mutt. The son of Santa Barbara Independent copy editor Jean Yamamura, Spike searched the Santa Barbara shelter and online at petfinder.com and adoptapet.com before finding this little guy — who matched the seemingly impossible criterion of “a terrier that won’t chase ducks” — at Wagville Puppies, a puppy rescue group in Simi Valley. Little Ace kinda looks like a terrier, but he’s most definitely “the best dog in the world,” says Spike.