He sounds very insecure. I have a singleton dog, he can be a git with other male dogs but that has all happened since he was used at stud once. With people he is the most loving dog anyone could ever wish for and he will be on visitors' laps within seconds.
Doesn't matter if you drop something that isn't meant for the pup,you never take anything off a young puppy unless it is a case of life or death and speed is of the essence, you SWAP for something better -or you will teach resource guarding.
This I'd agree with. I had a singleton bitch puppy (Basset) who I kept. She was spoilt rotten because she was on her own - too small to mix with the adults to begin with and once mum had done with her, she was stuck in the puppy pen alone. I used to carry her around with me when I could - so I was partly at fault when it came to how she was as an adult. Fact is although never nasty with us, she bossed the others big time. But they respected her!!
If you are really worried about your puppy, first of all I'd have a chat, face to face so she can see what's going on, with his breeder. Depending on the outcome, and personally I'd persevere because he's only a baby and if he really meant business, it would be more than growling etc, you either call it quits with him, or try to sort his attitude out. I do agree about swapping - you need to use applied psychology with dogs (necessary with the Basset male who will tend to protect what he sees as his - the pack thing). Make what you have far better than what you need to get off him. You will need to teach 'drop' and 'leave'. In any case.
Actually, being in a litter doesn't teach how to share. Dogs don't do sharing, especially if they've had to compete for food as a pup ;-) Best way to avoid resource guarding in litters is to supervise feeding time, and make sure there's enough food for left overs.
Absolutely right - particularly so with a hound, in a pack.