I have had goldens for over 40 years and currently have two. The problem is with the youngest which is three. She is very protective of me and if I stop to talk to someone, will sit and press herself up against me. Any dog that then comes up to me, she will growl at it unless I make a fuss of her at the same time. She also will go and tell off a dog that is bullying one of her 'friends' and also other dogs, even if she doesn't know them. She is now extending this protective behaviour to any human she is well acquainted with. Additionally I think she has separation anxiety as unless she is gated off in one part of the lounge, she will chew something up. Not overly destructive but sort of just making a point. This is unusual behaviour for a golden and so I have to be on the alert all the time. She doesn't bite, just tells the other dog off. I've never had a golden like this and wonder if anyone can throw some light on why she is like this.

My last one was similar, we also had another dog at the same time. I never managed to sort it out I’m afraid, it will be interesting to see if anyone can help you more. She did improve a little when she was much older, I used to let the other dog go forward first to greet people, the tricky one would then feel the need to but in to get her share of the fuss.
It was a shock to me to have a golden behaving this way as my previous ones had been totally the opposite. However over the years I gradually met people with goldens acting in a similar way and on discussing this with them I found they all came from the same breeder.
When I was looking for a breeder for my current golden I scoured pedigrees to make absolutely sure there were no dogs that were in the previous dogs pedigree as I felt there was an inheritable behavioural issue there

Thanks for your reply and I am glad my Susie is not the only one. My best ever retriever, Katy, had a lot of Rayleas in her pedigree and also Stanroph, which at the time were highly recommended, and she was the perfect retriever, so I looked for those blood lines when choosing my current two. All mine came from different hobby breeders not professional ones. My eldest is the complete opposite. She is extremely placid, tolerant and gentle and never pushes herself forward or stands up for herself, although she can be a bit stubborn at times.  On the positive side Susie is very loving and her recall and response to commands is excellent.

My first one was mainly Westley, Nortonwood, Camrose and some Stanroph. She was a great dog to have as my first golden. The one I have now is similar, very friendly and easy going.

Update on my retriever. I have taken her to a behaviourist and it seems she has 4 out of 5 of the markers for a dog which is not confident and is anxious. She was not protecting me but looking to me for protection. I am now working on building her confidence. Much easier to deal with when you know what is causing the behaviour.

Sounds right.  Most dogs are not being protective of us, even the guarding breeds - they are protecting themselves and it is almost always fear-based.