I have a nine week old Bullmastiff puppy (male).  We already have a two year old spayed female who has a fantastic temperement and loves everyone.  The new pup has come from the same breeders and has the same mum.  We also have two older greyhounds and a three year old collie cross.  He has settled in really well and is generally a good puppy, the female mastiff and collie cross play with him alot now though the female mastiff will soon put him in his place if he annoys her!  The collie cross (neutered male) will also tell him off if things get too out of hand but have noticed that the pup has snapped back a couple of times at him.  The pup has his mad moments of nipping/biting and hanging on my jeans! I try the loud Ouch! and ignore him but often he just continues so I distract him with a toy or go in another room.  But my main concern today was that I picked him up for a cuddle (he was tired) and was talking to him and gave him a kiss but after about 30 secs he growled and nipped at my face.  I obviously told him sternly NO then continued to hold for a little longer before placing him down.  My fear is does this mean he is going to be aggressive or dominant?  Or is it a puppy thing that he is trying out to see what he can get away with? I can't remember my female being like this when she was young but then you do tend to forget all the negative things!  I just want him to grow up as nice and balanced as our other one especially as they are a big breed.  I feel proud that our female is so lovely natured and well socialised and it is nice when people comment on this.  But soon as the puppy does anything a bit rough like biting or the incident just mentioned I do admit I panic as I would hate to have one with a bad temperament.  I would be grateful for any advice please.

He is only a tiny baby so please put any thoughts of aggression/dominance out of your mind . He was tired and probably a bit grumpy so was just telling you. This has no bearing on his temperament , he doesn't know what is / isn't acceptable til you teach him. Have fun with him , the baby phase passes far too quickly , enjoy!
Lucy x

> I picked him up for a cuddle (he was tired) and was talking to him and gave him a kiss but after about 30 secs he growled and nipped at my face.

He is going to a big dog, big enough that you will not be able to pick him up when he's grown so there is no reason for him needeing to get used to it. Being picked up can be very frightening and being cuddled/kissed can be just too much when pup is tired and need some peace & quite.

> I obviously told him sternly NO then continued to hold for a little longer before placing him down

This can be very confusing for pup, you were doing something that was frightening/annoying him, he told you in the only way he knew how (he may have even been playing), but you continued to do the thing that started the incident (holding him) - however, his little growl & nip was futile so you risk teaching him to ignore that part and go for a bite if you carry on with that method. Far better to ignore unwanted behaviour (and stop doing what ever triggered it in the first place) and make a mental note on what caused the reaction so if need be it can be worked on.

I know what it's like to stress about pups behaviour as you really want a large dog that is well mannered & well behaved, but don't forget his a little baby and has much to learn yet. You've nothing to worry about with how is behaving he's being a pup :)

Thank you both for your replies.  Both made alot of sense and yes mastifflover he does'nt need to be picked up and by me carrying on holding him I thought it was showing him I was in charge but I realise it was'nt necessary.  It is very confusing information that you can read about what you do to bring up a puppy I'm sure I don't remember getting this worried about my female!  But you've put my mind at rest that it does'nt determine  what his temperament will be like.  So far he has met lots of people and been perfect! I wish I didn't worry so much and just enjoyed his puppyhood! x

> It is very confusing information that you can read about what you do to bring up a puppy

Yes, there is so much conflicting info, it can be tricky knowing what to choose. All the 'dominace' stuff seems very temping, especially when you want to be sure that once pup is a huge adult, he will be under controll. I don't think it's silly to worry, it shows you care and want to do things right :)
Rewarding wanted behaviour with treats/fuss/verbal praise/toys/game is much more effective than the 'domiance' style of 'trainig' which focuses on supressing the dogs responses.

As a pup Buster would take himself off down the dark, hallway to sleep. I was worried that it showed a potenital behaviour problem of him being anti-social (worry makes you think some strange things doesn't it!) Once I had some reasurance from some fellow Mastiff owners I felt much more relaxed about that bit! So don't feel silly atall about worrying.

There are some really experienced people on here that will only be too happy to help reasure you about pups behaviour and guide you in the right direction and plenty others of us pet owners (like me) that will happily give you some more support :)

> So far he has met lots of people and been perfect!

Sounds like things are going well with socialisation :)

Thank you! I expect I will have plenty more questions for you in the near future! I agree I have never liked the whole Dominance thing but I panic at times and question myself.  Have often looked at your pics and seen how Buster has grown into a handsome lad hopefully Dexter will do the same x

Our boy when a small pup use to get really grumpy and use his teeth when over tired. Once we established a much better routine he was fine. :)

No such thing as aggression in a puppy!  Once had someone say that about a pup that growled.  Dogs growl!  It's a dog thing!  I actually have a pup at the moment, who can't even stand properly yet, and she growls when she falls over!  :-)  Think she does it to make mum come running!  Either that, or she likes the sound of her own voice!

But I do find that pups don't choose to be picked up - they just learn to live with it, as they haven't got much choice. 

When I have people come to see pups, and they bring the children, I get them to sit on the floor with a puppy on their lap.  If a child stands up, they don't have the sense to hold a pup in close to the body, so pup must feel as if it's flying through the air.

The easiest way I have found to get the message across to kids, is to say that, if a giant put his hand in through the window, and picked them up, it would be very frightening as they go whizzing through the air.

Please don't take that to mean I think you're a kid!!  I wasn't being rude, just trying to explain my version of picking pups up.  :-)