My take might be a little different. As long as it looks like nothing is going to get out of hand...another dog retaliating, some ongoing "war" between them, blood drawn, I'd stand by and watch for just a sec. See if the other dogs are respecting his growl and backing off from the bone. Sometimes, leaving them to communicate with each other and setting up their "regulations" works pretty well. If though, you see that the puppy's growls and quick little snap toward the other dog isn't effectively making the other dog go away, then it's time to step in. No punishment. That will just make it worse....but a separation will prevent the dogs from continuing the squabble. In many cases, dogs can teach dogs better than we can. However, when people sometimes say, "Let them work it out themselves" and they mean regardless, I disagree at the point where things might get too rough. That's when human mama lays down the law. LOL.
My dogs don't have much trouble at all. Once in a great while Chulita will give a little snarl at another dog if the dog is too close for comfort. And immediately the other dog respects that. So, I don't have to step in. Of course, I try to avoid very, very high value bones and things when they're all in close proximatey to each other. If any of my dogs really attacked the other....really biting, really going nuts, I would prevent that. So, without seeing what exactly your puppy is doing and how the other dogs are reacting, I can only guess at what point it is needed that you prevent by separating them in the first place. It is safer to keep the really super high value stuff away when they're all together.
