It didn’t take long at all for our bond to build once the adoption was confirmed. Even that first day of bringing him home in the car, I could feel he had established a sense of trust in me. From there, our connection continued to build, and we developed our daily routine: waking in the morning to take my medication followed by cuddles, getting out for our morning and afternoon walks (Bruce on timekeeping duties, of course!) and mealtimes right on schedule.
As a result of having this routine, Bruce would also sense I was having my bad migraine days if I got up in the morning but wasn’t able to shower due to lack of balance, and he would be very patient, quiet, and forego his usual demands for outings, being quite happy to potter around in the back garden.
If I needed assistance, I would shout “Bruce, here, help”, and he would come upstairs and stand by my bed, close enough for me to put my hand on his back so that I could stabilise myself to get up and stand. He then would walk beside me and somehow had learnt himself the best position to stand behind me when coming down the stairs, so that the weight of his body would support me behind my legs if I started to tip backwards or could put my hand there next to him to maintain balance. I didn’t teach him to do this; he just seemed to know what to do! When my migraine attack had lifted, and he would hear me go into the bathroom, the noise of the shower and see me come downstairs changed out of my pyjamas – that was it; action stations, and usual routine back on!
