Shih Tzu puppy aggression

Question
We have a 7 week old male Shih Tzu whom we have had for 1 week, over the last 2 days he has started to growl when our two year old daughter  tries to pick him up, this has now started happening when my partner tries to do the same, however there is no such aggression toward myself, any suggestions comments or questions? PLEASE HELP

Answer
Have you had him to the vet to rule out any pain that might be caused by picking him up? If not, that would be the first thing I'd do.

If there is no medical reason for his behavior, then it could be that the puppy is trying to 'establish rank' and sees only you as being the alpha. He should view everyone in your family as being above him.

This is one of the reasons puppies should remain with their littermates until they are at least 8 weeks of age. It is during this time that they learn about dominance and submission, and how to properly interact with other dogs, which makes training much easier later on, because they understand rank.

He is very young, so your method of correction need not be extremely forceful, but you need to make him understand that growling at people is unacceptable. When he does it, then whoever is picking him up needs to grasp him by the scruff of the neck, look him straight in the eyes, and tell him NO. If it's your daughter, then YOU need to do the correcting. She is not old enough to know how/when to do it, or how much force to use.