Puppy fear/aggression/classes...advice?

Hi, Tinkerbell is 14 weeks tomorrow, a chi/peke mix. She's smart,and funny, and dominant. She has an issue with growling, I quickly taught her that it's wrong and with me and dh,it's been succesful- but now as she grows, she's getting more naughty with the kids... She's got an attitude,and when they try to pat or pick her up,and it doesn't suit her, she growls, and 2 times snapped,and scratched their hands. She has no unsupervised time with them, and she's also very fearful of any strange dog, car,etc...pretty good meeting new people though, she's fine with other kids, but with mine, she gets fresh,is this a pack behavior thing? I've read and printed the steps to teach no mouthing, and we're doing well on step 2, but I think this is different- I think this is bad behavior, that must be trained out of her. Can I do this on my own? I can learn techniques, or is it better to do classes, and what type? She is MEAN to other dogs, b/c she's so afraid, she'll try to get away, if they advance, she gets really snarly(she only weighs 4 pounds, so she's not much of a threat, but it's the attitude that scares other dog owners, I don't blame them)
We have daily training sessions, and I have the kids spend time requiring her to obey for treats, today, when ds1 tried to stop the play, she got foul, no snap, but attitude... she instantly snaps to attention when i intervene, how do I fix this?
I'm at a loss here,and really hoping for some advice and support that I don't own the worlds worst dog... We all love her, but I need to know that she'll be stable around the normal noise in a family when she's older, those cute little puppy teeth will be much bigger soon...

You need help with her. Both breeds in this mix can be haughty and dominant and intolerant of children.

Get in a training class immediately with her, and socialize her OUTSIDE your home every chance you get.

here is some more help for training bite inhibition.


http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_BiteInhibition.php

http://www.phsspca.org/training/puppy_biting.htm

http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

http://www.crickethollowfarm.com/biteinhib.htm

http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/archives/bite.txt

http://www.doglogic.com/obedienc.htm#biteinhib

http://www.aylmer-hull-spca.qc.ca/biteinhib_e.html


Look especially for trainers who use positive motivational training methods. STay away from anyone who advocates harsh corrections for your issues, as this could either break your dog completely, or cause her to escalate out of control.

Good luck....

Get help.

Practice NILIF, and try and get the kids to work on training with her.

I am sure you will get more help .

~Tucker

Woops, Red and I posted at the same time.

~Tucker

Thanks to both of you- yeah... I kind of learned that these 2 breeds can be like that...at Petco, there were 3 other chi mixes,around 6 months old, and they ALL had a fearful,nasty reaction to everyone around them, I saw them and didn't want that to be my dog in a few months... Their owners just tied them to a cart and ignored their snapping -
I'll be looking for a good class this week- I know already from her personality that any sort of aggressive training just produces a negative effect- I read through the articles, I really liked Shirley Chongs take on this- and will apply her methods immediately- I sat and read through the steps with the kids today,so they're on board,
Also ,I've read some of NILIF, and had to use it already to teach her that I was in charge(she was only 8 weeks old!), but i think with this tough cookie, it might be a way of life for her- at least till she's old enough to really get it...will do more research on this method right now!