Chronos was born out of Salmon and Griffin on September 8th 2007 along with his brothers Boreas, Hermes, Thanatos and his sister Calypso.

I share a unique bond with all the dogs in my life but there are those who seem to transcend the boundaries of time and verbal communication from the moment of their birth. Chronos was one of those and his uniqueness was present as soon as he could walk.

I first noticed this special nature at the puppies bonfire birthday celebration. We had a great turn out of friends who cuddled and hugged all the pups and helped us celebrate these wonderful new beings into this world. After the babies had their of cake and everyone else had gone home, I lingered around the fire enjoying the last of its warmth and cuddled with them as they took naps and dreamed away the events of the day.

 With the babies already being so big I could only hold one in my lap at a time but Chronos wanted to be with me regardless. After explaining that my lap was full with Thanatos' big body he contented himself with the chair next to me and curled up enjoying the warmth of the fire at my side. He slowly slipped away to dreamland, completely content and satisfied that he was where he belonged.

I never will forget that night and the special feelings we shared that words could never completely explain. As the weeks and months passed Chronos' personality showed through bright and strong. I was surprised that he didn't hold any of the intimidation to strangers that his siblings did. He was still reserved, but much more open to making that special connection with other people over time.

 When he was still very young I could feel an overly strong heart beating away abnormally in his little chest. When we had our vet look him over she confirmed my fear that his heart was irregular and that he would need a very expensive surgery to correct the problem. It was suggested that I wait until he was older to see if the problem would correct itself, or to see if he would grow out of it to some degree, otherwise we would need to look into surgery.

As he grew Chronos compensated for his damaged heart, played when he could and rested when he needed to. He was very active and loved to wrestle with his siblings but when they became faster and zipped around the dog yard he had to stop often to catch his breath. He would do this many times, zip along with them, run out of breath, search me out, sit at my feet while I calmed him down, catch his breath then run after them again as fast as he could.

 Even though he was compensating very well his condition did not improve. We looked further into surgery options, ultrasounds and specialized heart tests but kept coming up with the same answers: it was extremely expensive, he would have to see a vet out of state and the actual surgery could kill him instead of saving his life.

We ran into the same problems working out how to perform his neuter, the anesthesia used in surgery could slow his heart down so much that he could pass away during the very simple procedure.

As a parent it was very hard to sit back and do nothing. As a society we are so used to being able to fix everything, no matter how large the problem, but there are times when doing nothing could be the right thing to do. In Chronos' case only time will tell...

Ive agonized over this quite a bit but finally came to the conclusion that any surgery was not worth the risk to Chronos' life. Instead I choose to rely on faith and let Chronos help refine my life lesson on how precious our time here is, no matter how long or short the duration. Few have suggested that it would have been best if I put him to sleep when he was still a pup but I think Chronos would disagree. He quite enjoys life and any limitation he experiences is quite minor.

Over time I tried to exercise him with the other dogs if we were going slow with runs under a few miles. His first attempt was a success but we had to make many stops and starts to allow him to catch his breath and set his own pace. His second attempt didn't turn out as well and so we abandoned the idea of him ever working loose with the team.

He does love his walks though! He comes with us for every summer group dog walk and with James and I on our nightly walks around the neighborhood. I am very much looking forward to our next move onto our 40 acre parcel where Chronos can have even more time for walks and explorations in the woods free to move about at his own pace.

For now he enjoys early retired life shared with Mercury and Griffin getting the top office slots of the day. Each dog has their rotation during the week to enjoy the house, the couch and to sleep in the office while I work. Along with the other retirees Chronos enjoys this inside time more frequently in my attempt to even out each dogs privileges.

Even through Chronos may never enjoy speeding down the trail on his own four feet he gets just about the same treatment speeding down the highway with the assistance of our trusty Jeep!