I lost My dog Murphy a couple years ago. I came home from work late on June 24th 2002, and found that he was sick. I took him outside so he could pee but he couldn't and tried to take off.. So I had to grab him and bring himback in. I clled up to my dad to come down and look at him and take him to the vet, but he refused. Murphy then started throwing up. It was watery and filled with grass. My dad had told me that dogs eat grass when they have internal problems, the grass usually helps calm the problem down. It was about midnight at this point, june 25th. I brough Murphy into the workshop near the stairway that leads upstairs. I called up to my dad again, he still didn't come down instead he said that he'd take him to the vet in the morning. I began to pet Murphy, and found that his stmoach was hard and leatherly, like a drum. It even felt like a drum when I hit it. a Little while later, Murphy's head began flopping to the side. It terrified me, and I tried to raise his head, but it kept lolling back. I ran up upstairs and finally got my dad to come down and look at him. It was roughly 1 a.m. he looked at Murphy, and remarked that he didn't look good. I held Murphy's head in my arms as he looked at him. A few minutes later, Murphy stopped moving, I asked my dad if he was dead, and he said he was. i immediately broke down, and started bawling. I cried for awhile, then awoke the rest of my family. All of them were shocked, and when they saw murphy they began to cry. We huddled on the couch upstairs, I was inconsolable. i loved Murphy, he was my pet, and I spoiled him rotten. Dad was hit hard, he had thought i was exaggerating the problems I was witnessing. We didn't tell my little brother until the morning, and we buried Murphy with a number of tennis balls (He loved chewing on tennis balls, and old soccer balls) We put up stone marjker and his grave, and said our goodbyes. We had had him for 9.5 years to the exact hour and day, i had got him as a christmas present in 1992, when he was a few weeks old, so he was nearly 10. He would have been 10 on November 6th of that year.