OH MY GOSH!!!! What a little doll baby. You know I think I'm going to have the growling problem with Tess too. She spends all her time with me and hasn't seen my 6 year old grand daughter in quite a while. I'm really worried about the nipping. She can sure bite hard when she gets excited. It's really hard not to haul off and smack her when she bites hard. So far I just let out a loud OUCH and NO BITE!!!. She settles down after that. The only time a swatted her butt is when she got into the cat's litter box. She hasn't gone in there since , but I sure felt guilty about the swat, I promised myself I would never use my hands for punishment. It was one of those days when a multiple of irritations occurred all at once and I just lost my temper. Gosh I love her though - what a cuddly little cutie. Sooooo much personality and I know she is so spoiled, and I can tell she really loves me