GROWLING AND NIPPING

Question
Pet: CHLOE   i just got a new puppy who is female and she is now 7 weeks old    i have had her a week         she weights in at a whopping 3.5#  so she is tiny.  her dad was a full Chihuahua and her mom was a Chihuahua basset hound mix.  both ver small dogs and when i went to get her  it seemed to be a loving home she was in.  ok so now my question... when chloe is in the yard running around or she is doing something she shouldn't be doing, i walk over to her and i try to remove her from the situation by picking her up or by just redirecting her by means of turning her around  but when i try to do this she gets real stiff and starts to growl and then starts nipping.  she also does this when she is chewing on a bone and i try to touch her near her mouth and she does this as well when she is eating.   now like i said she is only 7 woks old, not fixed and she lives with me and my 10 yr old daughter and a male declawed 5 yr old cat and a clawed 9 month old female cat, both of whom seem to be scared of the puppy.  all of my pets are strictly inside animals.   also my neighbor who shares the same yard as me has an old beagle who they seem to get along fine and another 2 yr old shitzu who completely ignores the puppy, there are occasions when they are in the yard together.    now my question is how to stop her from this growling and nipping behavior,  i have tried to pick her up anyway when she does it and i gently lay her on her back in my arms and tell her no firmly  or i will look in her eyes and yelp loudly.  she seems to stop but she does it again .  do i have an aggressive puppy?  is she going to be a concern for me   to have to worry about her biting other people.  my daughter said chloe has done this to her as well and she just walked away and put her in her bed.  now we have not played with her with our hands or fingers only toys as i have heard it will make a puppy into a dog that bites.  also sometimes just picking her up she does this.
please help i really waited so long for a puppy  and i love this one so much and want her to be a great addition to our family.
thank you sooooo much for your time.
kris

Answer
Oh my, Kris. At just 7 weeks of age, your puppy should not be exhibiting such dominant, possessive & aggressive tendencies. You should not pick her up when she acts out, but instead, you should correct her on the ground. Picking her up empowers her. I would strongly suggest that you find a local trainer who can work with you on this. I am not comfortable giving advice regarding how to deal with aggression/biting over the internet, because so many things can go wrong, and I would hate for you or your daughter to be bitten because you misunderstood what I suggested or whatever.

Get your dog into a puppy obedience class and get the trainer to help you deal with her aggression now before it gets any worse. Just because she's little doesn't mean this shouldn't be dealt with with as much seriousness as if she were a big dog.