Delius Diaries

Bucky, The Buckster, Buck-A-Boo. Our Bucky is a Jack Russell Terrier mix, heavy emphasis on the “mix”. While he looks just like a Jack Russell, he is 60lbs and not overweight. He is very sweet and easy going. His need to sniff, due to the hunting origins of his breed, is what drives his daily life. Many have asked how Bucky is handling Brussels and the move. For Bucky, new sniffs = happiness. New scents abound here.

The trip to Brussels was high stress for humans and K-9. His safety drove our trip logistics. The plan – rent a car from home, drive to Atl, fly direct on KLM to Amsterdam and drive 2-hours to Brussels. This way Bucky didn’t have to change planes and KLM has better dog accomodations internationally. Easy. Except it wasn’t.

Travel day started early with my friend taking me to the rental car office at 7am and dropping me off when they opened. Hugs goodbye and me trying to keep it together. I then proceeded to live the Seinfeld episode where they can take a reservation but can’t hold a reservation. They didn’t have a car for me. My sweet friend came back to get me and drove me home. Deep breathing to keep calm and talking with God. Small town = one rental car company. I called back several times, called other transport options and waited. All happening while still packing, closing down the house, dealing with bats and pool leaks, moving cars into long-term spots, oh and just trying not to lose my mind. I was close to sending a mass text asking if anyone could drive us to Atlanta, THAT DAY LEAVING IN LESS THAN 2 HOURS, when the rental car company miraculously found us a car. Thank you Lord! Different sweet friend gave me a ride to the rental car office and we had transport to the ATL. 

We drove to the Atlanta airport with a large hard plastic dog crate and 10 luggage bags, two humans and 1 dog, stuffed into a small SUV. Transfer from rental car drop off was not fun. We had three luggage carts, it’s fortunate that Connor is strong, he pushed two carts while I had one cart and Bucky on leash. That got us from the rental car drop off, down the elevator to a bus for the international terminal. The bus driver was not pleased with having to transport a dog. She immediately asked if he was friendly, as he was sniffing every post and trash can clueless she was even there. Oh yea, he’s scary alright. Luggage loads in but the crate would not fit in the bus door, aces. The driver said Bucky had to be in his crate to ride to the international terminal. So we had to convince him to get in his crate while standing in a bus lane with a lot of stimulus. He did not want to do that. She yelled at me, “if you can’t get THAT in the crate I will have to call my manager”. Bucky sensed my stress and her anger, he decided the crate was a safer spot. He was hoisted into the bus with the handicap wheelchair lift. Other passengers were not pleased with our drama. 

At the international terminal, the bus to ticket agent steps came with different challenges. Praise be for the nice airport employee who was kind and helped us get the crate out of the bus lift and our bags on smaller luggage carts. Fun times with 4 luggage carts. Bucky’s crate was too big for the cart and as we were entering the building, he moved and the crate went “ass over tea kettle”. That means he flipped over. Ok, we fix that and we make our way to the agent who looks at us and says, your dog reservation has been cancelled. It’s now 7pm and our flight is at 10pm. Connor and I both starting crying. No words, just tears. This was the culmination of 4-months of prep to move our life to Brussels. All emotions were on display in front of Delta. The ladies looked at Connor (our strong tall teenager) and the head lady said, “oh honey, I am sorry, we will find a way to work this out”. Just as Bucky moves and the crate falls again with him in it. We were a bit of a mess.

After paperwork, labels, IDs and $, we had the logistics of getting Bucky approved for travel. Flight was delayed and we had to wait in the terminal (near the gate agent) for 2-hours until Bucky was allowed to load into special cargo. At 9:30pm we said good-bye to him and said a prayer as they took him to the plane. Gulp. 

We make our way through security and to our gate ready to board the plane. We were exhausted. Things of note – he had an air tag so we knew where he was and they didn’t let us board until they had confirmation that he was loaded. Cargo holds are temp controlled so he was happy. I am quite certain that once the plane took off, he was sleeping and happy. No more crate turning over. Eight-ish hours later we land in Amsterdam and he is thrilled to see us. Whew! We get through customs without delay and head to baggage claim. Amsterdam has large luggage carts and we had help at the airport so all was well on the drive from Amsterdam to Brussels. We all three slept.

Now Bucky’s usual day entails sniffing in the fenced yard (an upgrade from home), running after very large birds in the yard, chasing the next door neighbor’s dog along the fence line and trying to understand the chickens that the other neighbor lets free-range. He gets a walk in the park almost daily. He is loved and happy. I don’t think he cares where he is, just that we are there.