Hi to all...i have been searching and reading for about 2 hrs and cant find anything on point. My 16 week am. bulldog is great, Except that, on occassion he will bark and crouch down (butt up tail wagging) and try to engage me to play. Sometimes i'll play with him (cuz its fun) or chase him around and play hide and go seek. My question is, should i not play with him when he barks, correct him, just ignore it, etc. he will freely roll over for me to rub his belly and blow on it. So i dont think its aggressive in any way, but could it become so? Thanks to all.

It could become a demanding behavior.

If you begin a simple puppy "obedience" moment with him ( Call him to you, play. Ask him to sit/help him sit, play) etc, you can teach him to have fun in obedience. It also gives enough structure that you have fewer worries about the behavior becoming demanding.

some of the things you said in your question were key clues. for example his butt up, dogs do this when they are playing. they will not do it if trying to be aggressive. in fact they will do tthe exact opposite. they will put the hair up on the back of their neck and stand tall. i agree with you that it aint agression. how ever, i also agree that you should start some ob with your pup. if you let this go on, it could turn into an issue where the dog knows, he barks, he gets to play. it may not be the best idea to let him decide when he plays. you are the pack leader and it should be up to you. if you like the bark, such as in sport, then you call the pup and tease him until he barks for the toy. also remimber all the toys are yours not his. if the toys are yours, all of a sudden you are a lot more interesting and he will want to play with you and look to you more. this is all in EDs dvd. anyways sorry i got off your question a little. to put it short, i would not let him bark "command" at me when to play. i would make it my choice when we play. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

awesome..thanks so much!

-just to clarrify, we def do obedience a couple times a day, play with our "towel on a rope", and walk everyday. I have both of Ed's video's, and my pup has been coming along just great, except when he's wound up and wants to play. To be honest, i sometimes initiate the roughhousing by covering myself with a thick blanket and either go after him, or let him find a way into the blanket. But other times he will look at me to play and bark and do his little crouching down routine and try to engage me. We HE starts this, I'll turn it into a little training session. Thanks to all!