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Today we lost a precious member of our family.  Murphy came to us after having been bred, raised and loved by Nancy and Dick Parrott.  He was three years old when he became a Bouton.  Everyone says their dog was the best dog ever, but Murphy really was.  He was the warmest, most loving, docile dog ever in my life.  He left us just hours ago, but I miss him more than I can describe already.  He was and will remain my Buddy.

Murphy did not have an easy life, but he did have a happy life and was he ever loved!  Several years ago Murphy nearly lost an eye to Distichia.  Thanks to the quick work of Dr. Gerianne Pandolfi (Dr. P.), we got him into the Ophthalmology Department at NC State just a couple of hours after she examined Murphy in Wilmington.  His eye was saved although limited to some peripheral vision and no vision straight on, but he had his eye.

About a year ago Dr. P. thought he had Degenerative Myelopathy.  This disease causes damage to the nerves in the spinal column.  In Murphy's case it resulted in the loss of the use of his hind legs.  NC State also examined him and agreed with Dr. P.  While Murphy still had some use of his legs, the "Bottoms Up Leash" Chris bought him was a Godsend.  We are so glad Chris found this product for Murphy.  Around April of 2007 he could no longer walk at all on his own and it became difficult to get his legs into the Bottoms Up Leash.  We got him an Eddie's Wheels wheelchair and we replaced the Bottoms Up with a Walkabout Harness which helped a great deal at this stage.  I credit these products with adding at least seven months to Murphy's life.

What Murphy experienced in health problems was made up for in love and fun.  He had "heart" until the end.  Until just a few days ago he could wrestle a nylon Frisbee from our 16 month old male Boxer, Buster.  Every day he would sit on his bed in my office next to me and he would spend the day there.  If someone came to the door he would "scoot" himself over there way faster than I could get there.  He still chased dogs off HIS property.  Every night I would put him in his wheelchair and we would walk the the far end of the house, go up "Murphy's Ramp" and into the sunroom.  He would spend the night on the couch with his head on my thigh.

Pat, the nurturing mother, took on the brunt of the work.  She was the one who got up and walked him outside so he could relieve himself every night before bed and first thing every morning.  Pat was Murphy's hero.

Murphy's FAVORITE thing was pulling my arm out of my socket with his nylon Frisbee.  It just could not get any better than that.  I never won those battles.  He used to run and leap way into the air to catch Frisbee's and he was good at it. 

He had a special love for Chris.  Whenever he heard Chris' voice Murphy's beautiful ears picked up and he was at Stage 1 Alert.  Chris had only seconds to get to Murphy before the barking started.  He had the same response when I told him "Chris is coming!".  He would be looking out the bedroom window in a second.

Murphy was pretty big, 75 pounds at one point, but never even close to overweight.  He was just the finest specimen of a Boxer I ever laid eyes on.  Although big, his kisses were plentiful and small.  If I asked for a kiss he would give me the smallest lick, just one, right on my face.

Under most circumstances, he was very docile.  He always gave in to our Miniature Poodle, Tina.  If I threw a ball or a Frisbee, Tina would be first out of the block, but in a few steps she would hear the thunder of Murphy's feet coming up on her.  Sometimes he ran her over.  Murphy often got to the prize first.  He would lie down with the ball, Frisbee, or whatever the toy-du-jour was between his front paws and look up soulfully at Tina.  Within a few seconds he would let Tina take the toy.

He would bark every time a car or truck entered out driveway, even my car!  If someone he didn't know well entered the yard, he would scare the heck out of him until I came up and held Murph's collar or put him on a leash, then all was well.  I think he was afraid of people, but he had an unusual way of showing it.  I think the people he feared were far more afraid of him.

When I said "Car In" to the boy, he was thrilled.  I might just take him along to Ace Hardware or the dump, but he was one happy boy when going for a ride.

Murphy made his mark on us.  Some day we will spread his ashes around the yard he loved so much.  This is going to be a very hard time for our family, but at least he will not suffer any more.  Dr. P. and staff could not have been more helpful and considerate this morning when we took Murphy on his last ride.  The entire staff, Dr. Pandolfi, Suzanne, Christine and Sally, came out to the car and hugged and kissed Murphy as they did Pat and me.  While in the back seat of the car with me and Pat, they first gave Murphy an injection that let him fall into a peaceful sleep with his head on my thigh.  I could feel him relax and begin to snore about 90 seconds later.  We sat with him, petting his body and talking to him.  About 10 minutes later the staff came out again and administered the euthanasia injection.  Soon after, Murphy passed on.  Our hearts are sad, but, thanks to Dr. P's staff at Four Oaks Animal Hospital, Murphy, Pat and I were all eased as much as possible.  I cannot say enough about the compassionate and competent service from Four Oaks.  They are wonderful.

Christmas Eve, when Pat and I open our gifts to each other, is just a few nights away.  Murphy always had to rip the wrapping paper off the boxes. We always had a ball with that.  Christmas Eve won't be that much fun this year.

This web page is part of the grieving process for me.  Thanks for putting up with my rambling.  If you think I am out of my mind, I can live with that too. You might think I am crazy mourning for a dog this way, but I don't care.  He was my friend for a long time.  I love him.  I'm really going to miss my buddy.

Steve Bouton