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Thanks for your fast reply and encouragement. Yes, Bella is a lab/aussie cross (unintentional). I've had her one week and picked her up when she was 8 weeks old. So I guess, the first thing I need to do is take a deep breath and realize that it was a brand new, highly stimulating environment for her-not unlike the first day she arrived at our house. I really appreciate your take on the situation with "well if I'm feeling intimidated, I think I'll go intimidate..." It sounds much less onerous than the behavior itself. I realize one advantage we have is if this is a part of her personality, we can begin dealing with it while she is still small enough to physically pick her up. I also like the idea of having her meet a puppy than coming back to me, although seeing another dog will definitely supersede the importance of me. (Also something to be worked on, but with a puppy everything is an opportunity!)

Becky: Bella was in a litter of 5 and her mama was very attentive. Although the pups were weaned at 6 weeks, the mama dog continued to play with the puppies. Bella was one of the 3 largest puppies in the pack (the only male being the largest and one other female that was a hair smaller than Bella). I brought Bella home when she was 8 weeks old. The breeder lives too far away to visit on any kind of regular basis and there aren't any puppies in the neighborhood that I know of. However there are some dogs (I think around 1.5-2 years old, another around 4 and another at 6 years. The 6-year old would probably be the best, but she's temporarily restricted for a leg injury.)

The puppy playtime in class is about 5 minutes long. Training, play break, training, play break, training. The facility was recommended by several people, but it may not be the appropriate spot for her. I don't want to judge after one session though. The training seems good, positive.

Finnsmydog: Bella pounced over the top of the other puppy and went for the neck growling. If it was play, it was very rough, aggressive play on Bella's side. We took her on a couple of short walks later in the day where she "met" at least a dozen other dogs (all nicely leashed). She was very happy to meet all of them. One of the dogs was smaller than Bella and very timid. Bella behaved beautifully with her, so perhaps there was just something about this particular dog???

Underdog: One of the dogs in our 'hood (1.5 years old) is eager to play with Bella, but too big and bouncy at this point as Bella was curious, but clearly a bit intimidated. Cherry also seemed to amp Bella up. When we got her home from meeting Cherry, she went into puppy craziness racing around, barking--and nipping. So I want to ease her into that play time. The facility where we attend classes is bigbigbig on getting puppies socialized and from reading, that seems to be the consensus. I'm confused on how to best manage socialization for Bella without having a ready supply of playmates...

The "Aussie kicker" is an interesting comment. My last dog was part Aussie and played very roughly. Initially, I thought "oh no!" with her too until I realized she was playing. Luckily a dog across the street had the same technique, so they made great playmates as they understood each other. Thanks for the no-need-to-panic. So when you say "to be watched" is that to make sure it doesn't escalate or because it will escalate?