He was only an hour away from his final destiny at a Los Angeles animal shelter when a kindly Jack Russell Rescue volunteer plucked him from death row. He had been a stray in a rough part of L.A., and his face is still scarred from beatings. Now, he’s renowned as Point Loma’s own Frosty the Flying Dog, with his own online video documenting his first aerial adventure. An 18½-pound white and tan Jack Russell-Chihuahua mix — or “Jackihuahua,” as his adoptive parent Douglas Poirier describes him — Frosty was “a bag of bones” when Poirier and his new wife Samia adopted him in January of 2007. Poirier, who enjoys an active lifestyle, was looking for an energetic dog as a companion when he found Frosty online. “When I first got him, he was a terror — a Jack Russell terror,” Poirier laughed amid Frosty’s need for constant attention. Poirier, who works from his Point Loma home, is fortunate to spend most of his time with Frosty, now about 3, who naps contentedly on his desk. Poirier and his wife quickly fell in love with Frosty. They rented every episode of “The Dog Whisperer” and became his “pack leader” while also signing up for training classes at the San Diego Humane Society. The well-trained Frosty now comes to the sound of a whistle and boasts a repertoire of signal-prompted tricks. Poirier, a financial advisor whose day is pegged to the opening and closing bells of the New York Stock Exchange, accustomed Frosty (“[the] staff all call him ‘Mr.’ Frosty,” Poirier said) to long afternoon runs and regular visits to his favorite place, Dog Beach. When the stock market closed at 1 p.m. Pacific time, Poirier would take Frosty to Torrey Pines Gliderport, where Poirier enjoys paragliding. “It’s not an adrenaline sport, but [it’s] very gentle and restful,” Poirier said. “It’s good for taking your mind off the rest of your day,” providing a balance to his high-pressure profession. But Frosty, now used to constant companionship and suffering from separation anxiety after his early trauma as an abandoned pooch, would get upset when his dad would take off for a flight. “Every time I’d leave him, he’d cry. It seemed he wanted to go. I found out that other dogs fly, and I thought he might like it. And he does,” Poirier said. Before he could take Frosty flying, Poirier had to develop the right harness to ensure that Frosty could neither fall nor jump out. Working with the Gliderport’s Steve Stackable, a flight instructor also known as the “Wing Doctor” for his expertise in repairing paraglider canopies, Poirier went through five prototypes before arriving at his final solution. The men tailored a cushioned canine lifejacket so that it’s a snug fit for Frosty and clips securely to Poirier’s flight harness. “After the first flight I knew he loved it. Now, when I take out his little harness, he runs over and holds his feet up and he’s ready to go. He runs over and stands by the wing and waits for me,” Poirier explained. Once they step into the cliff updraft and their wing takes them aloft, Poirier and Frosty ride the ocean breezes, flying as far as a half-mile over the Pacific. “We chase birds together [while aloft]. If he spots a bird, he keeps his eye on it and tries to get me to go over and look at it,” Poirier said. Once they land, he releases Frosty, whom he’s recently taught to fetch the “stuff bag” that covers their wing. Frosty is only the second dog to fly from the gliderport over the last 20 years, according to David Jebb, the gliderport’s flight director and general manager. Certain dogs seem to develop a passion for flying, which Jebb believes is linked to the special relationship they have with their pilot-owners. The dogs will chase after them and try to follow them off the ridge until waiting for their return. “The way you can tell if the dogs like [flying] is they continue to bark and wag their tails. If dogs could smile, these dogs would be smiling! You can tell these dogs are having fun,” Jebb explained. “The dogs have to have a great deal of trust in the pilot. It’s exhilarating but also terrifying and an amazing experience to share with a dog,” Jebb added. For information about Torrey Pines Gliderport, visit www.flytorrey.com/cms/. To view a video of Frosty’s first flight, go to www.metacafe.com/watch/789022/frosty_the_flying_dog.