Buksie, the 20-year-old Springs sausage dog
Buksie, the 20-year-old dachshund, is one of the world’s oldest dogs, and it is a Springs Extension resident.
According to the Guinness World Records, the oldest recorded dog, an Australian cattle dog, was 29 years and five months old.
Buksie’s owners, Terry Merrifield and Marius Oosthuizen, say he is turning 21 in May.
Terry says she received Buksie when he was still a puppy in 1998.
“I got Buksie from a woman in Springs who lived in a flat, but she couldn’t keep him anymore because he was apparently too naughty, so she gave him to me.
“I have since lost contact with this woman, but would like her to know that Buksie still lives.”
Marius says Buksie eats every day and a vet recently told them that he is in a very good condition, considering his age.
“We give Buksie half a Disprin every day, and we believe this may be one of the reasons he is still alive,” he says.
Buksie’s son, Odi, is 10 years old and, according to Terry and Marius, Odi takes care of Buksie.
“Buksie is blind and deaf, so when he eats, Odi stands guard at his food bowl and makes sure he finishes it without interference from any other dogs,” says Marius.
Terry says Odi does not touch Buksie’s food and does not leave his side until Buksie is finished.
“He takes very good care of his dad.”
Buksie sleeps in a camping cot in Terry and Marius’s room.
“This is so that he doesn’t fall or get injured at night,” says Terry.
“It’s the safest and warmest place for him. He is our baby.”
Marius takes care of Buksie during the day and goes with him where he needs to be.
“If it was not for Marius, Buksie would not have been here anymore. He takes very good care of him and treats him like a child.
“We both do,” she adds laughingly.
The couple jokes and says they think Buksie is getting senile as he recently started walking in circles.
“He has the life of a spoiled child and does everything with us.”
When Terry and Marius go on vacation or on a fishing trip, they fold up the camping cot and take Buksie with them.
“He has a big heart,” says Terry.
Marius says although Buksie is now “an old man”, he was a “leeu op sy tyd” (lion in his time).
Terry says she does not have any paperwork showing Buksie’s birth date but says she knows he was born in May in 1998.
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