Well Buddy (2 yr old rescue) has been here for almost 3 months now. He is really a great dog! There are a few behaviours that I am curious about however and maybe someone can shed some light or at least give me an educated guess. We have no history on this dog.
The one I am a little concerned about is his growling. It doesn't happen all the time and has diminished over the months he has been with us. An example was over the holidays. I had my family over for dinner on Christmas Eve. They all (5 adults) arrived together. Buddy was at the door with us to greet everyone. He was fine. As everyone settled in the family room, Buddy made the rounds checking them out, getting some pets etc. He was pretty calm and relaxed. As we were all sitting around talking he made his way towards the couch (which he is not allowed on) and put his paws on my niece's lap. She nonchalantly began patting his head. He put his head down on her lap and began this low growl with a curled lip. He made no other move towards her and was otherwise acting friendly, licking her hand and wagging his tail. He has done similar behaviours with other 'new' people. Friendly, waggy but with this growl.
The other thing that is curious is when I remove his collar, which I do every night, he immediately wants to smell it. If I happen to walk away with the collar he will follow and sniff away as I am walking. Then in the morning when it's time to put the collar back on he twists and turns his neck. I have been working on making him sit nicely while I put it on. It is getting better - somewhat. At first I thought it was just excitement . Collar = walk! Now I wonder if the two things are related. His foster Mom had mentioned that she thought he was a little 'hand shy' when she first got him. I seem to have more success if I clip his collar under his chin as opposed to on top of his neck.