[Roxibear]

My pup Roxi is six months tomorrow and she was quite mouthy with my 8 year old son for the first couple of weeks. I did correct her but I think it was just a puppy thing. I would be more concerned about the growling. With Roxi any nips came from over excited playing but there was no growling. I had a freind who got a rottie pup years ago who was hand shy, eventually he had to be put down at just over 2 years. It turned out the pup was being slapped at a very early age for peeing. There might be an underlying reason as to why he is growling at certain people. I don't think he would know what being protective is at such an early age. Anyway good luck and there are a good few experts on here who will give you excellent explanations on behaviour.