worried

Question
I there, we have had our yellow lab puppy now for just over 8 weeks...she is 16 weeks now...she is a very smart pup(she sits, lays, comes, stays, knows off,  shakes a paw-from sitting, standing, or laying, spins, and is learing take a bow), she is also bell trained to go outside...we have been working on the "nippy" puppy thing and she is getting so much better...we are concerned with something though, and need to know if we are in trouble with her or if it is correctable puppy behaviour...she has growled at us about 7 times(never about her food-she just wags her tail if we put our hand in her dish or remove it from her)...she growled once when the kids tried to take away a bone she found in our yard, but they had taken it away many times before and after and she was fine, she has growled a few times when she has been hyper and playing and the kids have tried to pick her up, and she growled once at me when she had climbed into the dishwasher and i removed her) BUT today my 11 year old daughter had chased her upstairs because she had gotten a toy(not a dog one) and the dog growled...i corrected her and we both attempted to get the toy again and the dog growled and bit my daughter...i was angry and corrected her and put her outside...i need to know if we can fix this, i can not have a dog that bites but we love her and 99% of the time she is great, very submissive, will roll on her back..also, if she is nippy from playing and we yell ouch, she usually resorts to kissing us...please tell me what we can do or if we can fix this...

Answer
Possessive aggression, like what you're experiencing, is probably the most common form of aggression that pet owners have to deal with. It needs to be nipped in the bud NOW, before it escalates further. She's already progressed to actually biting, so I would recommend that you contact your local dog trainers and see if they can help you. It's very difficult to give advice for aggression issues without seeing the dog in person, and I would hate to tell you to do something that got you or your daughter bitten again. You know?

Try to find a trainer that is experienced in dealing with aggression, who utilizes a combination of several training techniques instead of just one (for example, using positive methods to teach commands and then introducing corrections for disobedience, instead of starting out using corrections to actually teach meanings of commands - such as telling a dog or puppy to sit, and tugging or jerking on the leash to make it comply), and who can work with you one-on-one rather than in a class setting. It would be even better if the trainer could come to your house, because your dog may not exhibit the behavior outside the home just yet, being that it's still in the beginning stages.

The important thing is that your dog not succeed in keeping you from taking the item just because she bites, and you should never discipline your dog out of anger. Corrections should be emotionless, and should come immediately when the inappropriate behavior occurs. Your dog isn't going to understand being fussed at, spanked, and thrown in the backyard for biting your daughter 5 minutes ago (or whatever, you get the idea I'm sure).