Brenda Klingler’s first encounter with Isaac the pointer dog began with tragedy. Klingler is the city of Warrenton’s lead animal control officer, who got a call about Isaac in mid-October.

“I got a call that there was a deceased dog on the North Service Road, and that there was another dog nearby,” Klingler said. Isaac and another dog, a beagle, had escaped from a nearby home and went roaming, ending when the beagle was hit and killed by a car.

“Isaac stayed by the body. He wouldn’t leave him. That’s not uncommon,” Klingler said. She picked up Isaac and the body of his friend, and took Isaac back to the city animal shelter off of Highway U.

Working with community members on Facebook, Klingler located Isaac’s owner, but quickly realized that the situation was more complicated than just returning the dog. She learned there had been past problems with Isaac getting loose and following the instincts of his breed to go hunting and exploring.

The home where Isaac lived didn’t have a yard with a high fence to keep Isaac from wandering away, and his owner realized more situations like this could happen if Isaac didn’t go to a more appropriate home, Klingler said.

She explained that people often have such trouble with dogs because they adopt an animal based on how it looks, without understanding the needs or behaviors of a breed.

“Sometimes people get in over their head with a certain type of dog, and it’s too much for their living arrangements,” Klingler said. “Isaac is a hunting dog. He wants to run. ... (His owner) did the right thing to surrender him so we could find him the right situation.”

But finding the right home for Isaac was also a complicated prospect. He needs to go to a home with a yard and a high fence, and ideally be owned by an active person who is familiar with pointers or other hunting dogs, Klingler said.

“He’s a fantastic dog. He’s the sweetest — friendly with other dogs, friendly with every person he met. But if he was given any opportunity to run, he was going to be gone,” Klinger said. “Someplace like a big farm is not the answer for a dog like him, because he’s going to get on a trail hunting something and be gone.”

The right home didn’t materialize in the local area, and it isn’t healthy to keep a dog confined in the shelter for a long time, Klingler said. So Isaac became one of many dogs with breed-specific needs that get transfered to specialized rescue organizations around the country. In this case, Klinger connected with a group called American Pointer Rescue in Ohio, which agreed to care for Isaac while finding a suitable permanent home.

Now Klingler just had to get a dog 500 miles from Warrenton to Ohio. Enter Pilots N Paws, a network of volunteer small aircraft pilots who fly rescue animals to their destinations across America. The pointer rescue contacted a pilot and set up a date.

In late November, just before Thanksgiving, Klingler met with “Pilot Mike” at the Washington Regional Airport south of Marthasville. Isaac climbed the ramp into the back of a small propeller plane, and watched out the window as Missouri said farewell on his way to a safe landing in Ohio.

When he got there, Isaac was welcomed into a foster home with a larger partially wooded yard surrounded by a 6-foot fence, where he can roam and explore with other pointers.

“He is so wonderful. He integrated right away with our pointers,” said Caroline Marino with American Pointer Rescue. She said Isaac settled in and made himself comfortable right away.

He won’t be at his foster home for long, though. Marino said they’ve already identified and vetted a couple in Tennessee who want to bring Isaac with them when they move to their new home just north of Nashville. He’ll have a permanent home and yard that he’ll share with the pointer that already lives with the family.

Klingler said she is happy that Isaac found his way to people who cared to find him the perfect home.

“You feel really responsible for every single animal that comes through your door,” Klingler said. “There is a tremendous amount of work that comes with coordinating an effort like this ... getting them into just the right situation.”