We have a lovely golden cocker spaniel bitch.She is 19 months old and we have had her from 8 weeks old.We have never had a problem with her and have trusted her 100% with my 3yr old daughter. Recently it was necesary for my in laws to look after her for us and they said they noticed aggressive behaviour especially at feeding time.We ignored this as we have never had a problem and my mother in law keeps saying if we ever need to rehome her they'll have her so we thought it just a ploy!! However tonight our daughter went to stroke her as she was lying gnawing on a bone and ended up being bitten on the face. We are distraught as we love tis dog,she's one of the family but we also feel so guilty that in our trust we allowed our daughter to be hurt. It could have been alot worse. Can anybody help,why this characteristic now after all this time? She was at my inlaws for about 10 days.They have two labradors,I'm wondering if it's anything to do with that,totally at a loss.If you have any suggestions on what we can do to train ths out of her please help.We love her and our daughter would also be gutted if we had to give her up. I guess this also means we had better get her spayed.It's just weird cos she's always been a typical affectionate and sound cocker.

Please don't leave ANY dog alone with a 3yr old child.

In answer to your question here & the other post on this subject, you said that your daughter did nothing to provoke the bite in the second post yet about you wrote

<However tonight our daughter went to stroke her as she was lying gnawing on a bone and ended up being bitten on the face.>

JMVHO but I would teach your daughter not to approach your dog whilst she is eating or chewing on bones as this is what triggered the bite. I would also not give your dog bones to chew whilst your daughter is around

I would also suggest that you get your dog checked over by your vet to ensure there is nothing wrong healthwise & if there is nothing medical a miss consider getting professional one to one advice

My dogs are 100% sound round food...BUT I would never allow a child to approach a dog with a bone.They become very 'into' their bone and it is only natural for them to 'resource guard'. My children are 'trained' to respect the dogs space when they are busy with a bone.Despite that I would (and do with my children) get them involved in the feeding process..my daughter helps feed and train the dogs with bait.
Also as advised get her checked by a vet and take this aas a lesson as to what CAN happen.
Archer

To desensitise a dog to having adult humans around food I use the following technique:

Put half the dogs normal meal in a bowl.  Sit on the floor with the bowl between your legs and give the dog permission to eat.  When the meal is nearly finished, add a small amount with your hand (wear a leather gardening glove or similar if you are concerned,) and keep your face turned to one side to avoid giving possible eye to eye contact. This should teach the dog that human hands near food are a positive experience.  Repeat this every meal time, with as many adults as possible.  Avoid rewarding the dog with phrases like 'it's alright,' and 'calm down' if she starts kicking off, and never put more food in the bowl if she starts growling.

HTH  I grew with a lovely Golden cocker and we had a LOT of fun together :)