A few Q's about pups behaviour!

[BrightEyez]

Hello everyone :)

Ok well i have a few questions about my 7 month old male rotty.

1. When we pat him, he sometimes..or should i say every now and then turns his bum/backside towards us, twists his body, lowers his ears and wiggles his bum towards us/me while looking at us..with this kind of a look (looks like that smiley hehe). At first i thought he was doing this because he is sort of guarding his head
but then i remembered that when he is in a "cuddley mood" he lets anyone pat his head, and he also approaches us head on, goes for licks (tries to lick our faces) etc. He is very comfortable with us and often when he is inside (he is both an indoor and outdoor dog) me and him would be laying down and he would be on his back with his head in my lap and id be rubbing his belly(this goes on for hours). Sometimes id get on top of him while he is in this postion and rub his neck and bottom of his jaw while he is chewing on a toy (he loves this). So i dont think when he is turning his back towards us that its to do with insecurity? Also when i rub his bum he stands still with his ears down and often wiggles his little tail- Could it be that he simply enjoys having his bum rubbed?!

2. He is 7 months old yet he still has problems with distance recognition!
By this i mean when he sees one of us from a further distance he just gets all alert and stares, then as we get closer he gets all excited and gets vocal etc
Is this because he cant recognize us from far away yet?
Every morning he is taken for a car ride to grandpas house , so he has learnt to recognize moms car very well and when ever he hears one of the cars or sees it from a distance he reacts.

3. Sometimes he attempts to speak. My mom is very...uh, vocal with him. She tends to talk to him like you would to a human and often it looks like they are talking to each other . She'd say something, like "noo you cant do that, bla bla" and he would let out some sounds (not barking or growling) i cant really explain them..its like he's trying to talk back to her..
Is this normal?

4. Is guarding behaviour possible to show as early as 7 months? Sometimes i would be sitting with my dog, outside and he would be almost a sleep.. he would hear something, jump up and run to the front of the house slightly growling where there is an opening on the fence to see what it is..
He'd do a run, then come back and go back to sleep.
He isnt showing any signs of fear or extreme submissiveness towards animals or people (apart from submissiveness towards family members).

5. He has never been the type to nibble or bite, but recently (and i blame my mom for this) he has started jumping up out of excitement or when he wants to play and going for our hands. He would also be "trying" to bite on to things and display like 30 second yawns, constantly opening his mouth but when he finally grabs on to a hand he doesnt press on at all, just lets it go.. he has never "playfully bitten" anyone or broken skin..but I want this behaviour to stop and i keep telling him off but it doesnt seem to be working..Ive told my mom off as well because when she plays with him sometimes she jumps up and down with her hands all flopping around ..of course hes gonna try and jump with her. Silly mom.

6. He has started to rebel. Things that he has been thought from day one all of a sudden "dont make sense to him". He is behaving like such a teenager. He only now obays commands if food is involved (before he'd do them without food). He has been thought that he is only allowed in a certain area of the house when inside..and recently he has been making runs. For an example, we'd tell him to settle down and sit..he would look like hes about to...then his bum goes in the air and he starts running at full speed in all of the areas of the house (HE knows he isnt allowed to do this). Its enough that i catch him somewhere where he isnt suppose to be, and point my finger to his "area" and he goes on his own and sits..he gets that "oh no" worried look when he is cought so im 100% sure he is rebelling.
IS this something that will pass?

[thezookeeper]

1) I have yet to meet a Rott that won't present a bum to be scratched! To my dog's it is sort of like "you missed THIS spot!"

2) I might be wrong here but I would say he does reconize you. Gets excited and vocal... + the fact your Mom talks to him....= a hello responce to me.

3) Talking dogs HMmmm... Rotts will grumble, yowl, sigh, humph, and alot of other types of noises. so as to being normal... for some dogs yes - depends on the dog and if the trainer will allow it.

4) Guarding? no. Wants to know what is ggoing on outside the fence- Yes.

5) Flat out tell MOM to knock it off. Then ask her if she really wants a 110 pound dog jumping on her and biting at her hands. Second each and every time he does it to you stop playing- tell him No in the meanest growly voice you have and then ignore him. Personaly I can't stand mouthing.

6) yes the misbehavoir will pass...8-10 years from now Sounds like your little guy is doing just fine and is a great pup... enjoy. but as to the stages... he is probly starting the 1 year old rebelling. then comes the 2 year old rebelling. Then comes the 3 year old rebelling.

[WendiS]

Sounds like a pup. A good pup, but a pup. Have fun with him and if he starts using words when he talks to your mom be sure to post it in the brags

Wendi