Puppy training issue--Opinions needed!!

[Kerrie]

Elly is 4 and a half months now. She knows her basic commands but I enrolled her in puppy classes cause there's always a lot more that we can learn. She also does puppy play dates with this trainer and I bring her to the dog park a lot to get the socialization she needs.

Recently, I noticed that she has started to get possessive with certain toys-- they don't have to be hers per say,(this happened at a friends house and at puppy play date and they were not Elly's toys) but once she has her hands on something she realllllllly likes, no other dog  can have it. She growled at my friend's dog twice and growled at a few other dogs on one occasion at puppy play date because she was really into a certain toy. It's very irregular and she has never done it to a person; she play fights with other dogs completely fine and has a ball around the other dogs. 

To get to the point, the trainer asked everyone in class if we had any concerns and I mentioned this irregular growling to her--She looked very concerned and said I should come in for a private hour and a half training session for the price of $100.00. To me, that is extremely expensive and she seemed hesitant to discuss the details of what she was going to be doing with Elly during it so I canceled it. 

Now, is this a major issue? When she has growled I just removed the toy and then everything was fine and dandy. Just want some opinions---and is this something that needs the attention of a private session to begin with?

[Seamus & Haidee]

How about taking the toy away and exchanging it with a yummy treat- then giving the toy back. We did this exercise in class with toys and bones and exchanged them with bits if cheese or hotdogs

[John and Finn]

Well it only becomes an issue if the growling turns into aggression.  Finn plays with an adult dog who growls at him the same way but he is all bark no bite.  He also gets into pretty aggressive play fight sessions with his buddy where lots of barking and growling goes on between them.  I wouldn't make it more than it is until he takes it to the next level.  To me that would be growling and then bearing teeth with intent to bite another dog or any aggressive growling, period, towards a human.  Now if your trainer has witnessed this and is concerned than that is another story.

[Kerrie]

Yeah, I figured I would just monitor it and then see--the trainer is the one who made me feel paranoid about it. She once saw Elly growl and then she took away the toy from her and gave her a treat; that was all. When I told her it happened a couple more times she did a 180 and made it seem like it was an urgent thing we needed to tackle. 

[Gail and Bailey]

I think you should ask the training group here on DK.  There are more experienced folks in that group and it is all about training.  No disrespect to all of us who have puppies....just figure those who run the training group will know more specifically what you should do.  Elly is adorable! 

[Emily & Wispa]

Guarding leads to aggression in a lot of cases, so if she learns this at her current age it might be hard to conquer later.  Try doing the exchange for treats at home for a week every day, then start doing it in the park or with otehr dogs.  Have the treat ready so you can give it immediately after the toy is taken away, and only if she doesn't growl.  You have to create a positive association with giving up the toy, not just when you're on your own, but more importantly when other dogs are around and may want to play with that toy as well.  Give her treats for being a good girl while other dogs are playing with her toys, but always return it to her afterwards and she'll hopefully learn that she gets praised for sharing, but that she will eventually get the toy back anyways!