Puppy aggression - help :-/!

I really am not sure what to do about this problem:

I have a 10 month old alaskan Klee Kai, he is intact because he is a show dog. He is normally the friendliest little guy around. He loves to play with other dogs and we have had no problems with aggression. He goes to a dog day while I am at work and they also tell me he plays great with all the other dogs there, no problems.

Last night friends of ours came over with their 9 week old, female bull terrier puppy. I knew they were coming beforehand and so I asked the supervisors at our dog's daycare if he had ever played with puppies there and if so how did he act. They told me he had played with the puppies and it went generally well, except for one male puppy who was a bit ill manored who my dog didn't like at all. But, they told me one of his favorite playmates was a 4 month old female lab pup. I though ok, should be fairly safe.

Still, before our friends came into the house, I had them walk their puppy to a patch of grass about a block from our house. I then leashed my dog and walked him over to where our friends, my husband and the puppy were waiting. As we crossed the street he seemed excited to see the puppy, but once we got over there he became VERY hyper, sniffed her like crazy, then tried to nip her! I gave a quick correction and he just went crazy barking. I wasn't sure what to do.

We all walked back to the house and went inside, people first, then my dog, then the puppy. Inside wasn't much better, he was barking like CRAZY and kept jumping at whoever held the puppy. He wasn't growling at all and his fur wasn't standing up, so we slowly tried to introduce them again, but this time after smelling her he nipped her in the face! At no time during any of this did he growl or have raised fur, which kind of confused me?
I'm not sure what his problem with the puppy was since he wasn't showing signs of aggression per say (growling, raised fur) he seemed more HYPER around her, barking and jumping. But we absolutly couldnt have them in the same room as he just kept trying to attack her.
This really worries me as we have plans to add a new puppy to our househd in the spring! Can anyone help me understand this or tell me what I can do to work with my dog on this issue before our new puppy comes??


Thank u! (sorry for the long post :-/)

Honestly...sounds like to me he was trying to play, but was just "over" excited and got a bit rough. Correcting him and ignoring him till he is calm is about the best you could do I think. Another helpful hint, when bringing home a new one (even if its just a visitor)...get that dogs scent all over you, and let your dog sniff , until no longer interested (takes ours forever..I mean ..I'm being sniffed, and so forth for at least 20 mins)...and then bring in pup. I've heard placeing pups bum in your dogs face and letting him get a good sniff over with first helps. (i was told that its because a) thats how dogs say hello, and B) its a least agressive way to introduce them. Then once the sniff is over, put the puppy down , butt to your dogs face direction, keeping your dog on leash..and let him sniff the puppy and so forth..the puppy will eventually wander off and or turn around and sniff him (most likely the latter first).
I may be wrong...but seems like this rule of thumb has always worked for me.
Also..maybe putting baby gate up, and letting them get used to each other thru a gate first.
Definatly correct the barking, and nipping. and remove him , until he calms, then bring him back. Over , over and over. Until he finally calms down and realises he needs to play "softer", and "calmer".

Also..he may have had a bigger dog, at some point nip at him like that to instigate play. and so he thinks thats the way it goes.
Out of curiosity did he bow down, or do a "play" stance at all before he nipped at her.
Also..dogs dont always growl , or raise thier fur with agression. d
did he put his ears back, or get a different look in his eyes.
Did he try to put himself OVER the pup?

I honesltly think he is just "over" excited. But...agression is a slight possibility.
Plus..dogs send signals to one another that humans dont see, or know.
(cesar mulan talks about this alot).
It could be she sent out an energy that caused him to act up.

Well...im no expert. But those are my thoughts. HA!

My dog is sweet as pie but dislikes little annoying puppies who are "rude" (jumping on him, pestering him etc) he will growl and then try and discipline them.

It doesn't sound like your dog was trying to hurt the pup, just was over-excited and unable to contain himself. He may have also wanted to discipline the pup if he was too excited and poorly mannered. From the description of the breed it sounds like nippiness may also be a breed trait.

Sometimes just watching close and letting them sort themselves out works better then over-intervening. I wouldn't call your dog aggressive based on this one experience, not all dogs like puppies either.