Belly rubs and building trust.

Just saw this on my Facebook page and it made me think about how Duncan and I have been building our relationship for the past year and a half.  He wasn't big on exposing his tummy at all when he first came home with me but it didn't take long before he began to open up and as his comfort zone increased, so did his habit of sprawling out with his tummy exposed.  Of course, as any animal lover knows, tummies are irresistible and remembering how much my Sybil loved her tummy rubs, my instinct was to reach right over and give Duncan a tummy rub!  NOT a good idea!  He might have felt comfortable exposing his tummy but he sure wasn't about to have me touching it and he had no problem letting me know in no uncertain terms that his belly was WAY off limits!  However, over the past month or so, he seems to have decided to trust me one step further and now allows me to give him short little tummy rubs!  He does keep a wary eye on the proceedings and once he's had enough, the tail starts to twitch and if I don't pay attention, I still wind up getting bitten but the simple fact that he lets me give him those short little tummy rubs has me soaring!  He's starting to really trust me and that means the world to me!  I know he loves me -- he makes that clear all the time, climbing up in my lap and demanding attention and loving, head butting for kisses, lots of slow eye blinks and so many other little signs of affection -- but loving and trusting are two completely different things and his trust is something that we're working on and it feels like little miracles whenever we have these breakthroughs!