snarling/growling puppy?

[Scrapper's Mom]

He has never growled at her, but will moan and whine when they are playing, and she will utter that most threatening growl. He understands that it is only in play, so he doesn't back off, and she never makes good on her "threats".
Tom

Scrapper does this to Holly as well; he makes a high-pitched whining sound, but he sounds almost like he is crying, with his mouth wide open. He will not touch her or threaten her in any way. In the doggie world, females are dominant over the males, perhaps this is why your little girl was play fighting with the beagle. And when there is a passel of puppies playing together, you do hear all sorts of tiny fearsome growls and barks. It is their way of learning pack behavior that will serve them when they are grown.

There are many threads on here about "bite inhibition" which will help you teach your puppy how to not bite hard.

 

[kassa]

A couple of thoughts:

If you keep a simple log of your puppy's day (sleep times, play times, peeing/pooping/eating times) you will soon come up with patterns. One thing you'll discover is that they can get really "nasty" when they're overtired. When the pup you can nestle in your arms and kiss starts lunging for your nose, or won't let go of your ankle, chances are it's time to swoop them into the crate. Often, once restricted, they'll crash, and be snoring within a minute or two (often within seconds!)

Personally, I think too much is made of avoiding the crate as "punishment." Crating is a positive training tool, yes, and by no means do I think locking a pup in there for misdemeanors is effective training. However, when there's pandemonium and a complete lack of ability to settle or respond to commands or mild restraint, a time out in the crate will permit you to regroup instead of get overwhelmed as the pup gets more out of control.

Puppies can be overwhelming. It's not a harsh life lesson to learn that access to human company is a resource controlled by the human. A timeout of a few minutes while you go pour yourself a nice beverage and calm down is not the end of the world, particularly if the pup is able to turn the meltdown into sleep or at least self-entertainment with a chew toy.

To me, a crate is a play pen. You don't leave babies in one all day, but they go in when they can't receive 100% attention. They can have toys, they don't have to be silent or asleep (at least during normal waking hours) but if it enables both you and the pup to regain composure, it's not the end of the world to resort to it when you're frustrated.

Of course if the pup does not fall asleep, keep the crate session short, let the pup out without comment and find some job to do about the house that doesn't involve interacting with the pup, so that the crate exit is non-emotional and routine. Then, if the pup remains calm, give attention and perhaps even re-initiate calm play.