HELP!!...aggressive puppy

I bought my puppy (golden retriever) home when he was 7 weeks old. He had been seperated from his mother a week prior as she had to stay in vets because she had got mastitus. He is absolutly brilliant REALLY obidiant, he can come, sit, paw and is just picking up the down command really well. His house training is amazing (hardly no accidents!).

However, he tends to growl if you wake him from a sleep, he didnt just growl at me this evening he actually 'went for me', which is worrying for me as I have 2 children 5 and 3!! If i remove him from areas in the house where he is not allowed (i.e. stairs, fire etc) he will have a grumble but i ignore him. But if he is awoken from a sleep his growl become much more sinister, he is a very large retriver (almost 7kg at 8 weeks) so I'm keen to get any aggression out, owing to the fact i have 2 young children. (Just fyi my children are good with him, they dont tug, they dont shout). What can i do?

Thanx

does he guard food toys etc.? Also when you remove him from places he's not supposed to be do you yell or scold him at all? It's possible you scare him when you wake him but since he growls at other times too he might be acting aggressively although it's very uncommon in puppies, I thought it was nearly impossible at 8 weeks. You may want to start a NILIF program, but answer my questions first.

Agree .... seek help ! It is not the nature of a well bred Golden to show aggression except in play with their litter mates . It could have been because Mom wasn't with him at the six week period to correct and the breeders didn't step in . Good luck and let us know !

I agree with bubbatd - Find a good behaviorist to work with, I'd bet dimes to dollars that the pup just didn't learn the important lessons between 6-8 weeks with his littermates.

'though I doubt it's true agression at that age, the puppy is communicating in the only way it knows how but you have a tough job teaching it the lessons it missed out on.