my dog is growling

Question
My 4 year old golden retriever is a very good dog. Lately she growls when anyone but typically my 13 year old son goes to pet her. She's wagging her tail while she's being petted and growling. What is going on? Today she started showing her teeth in the growl. Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Andre

Answer
You may want to be sure nothing is hurting her by having your vet check her out.

It's pretty difficult for someone to diagnose what the situation is without being there to see her in action.  It could be that she doesn't wish to be disturbed, but that's an attitude issue on her part.

If you're certain there is no medical reason for her behavior, you may want to implement some of the suggestions contained in the following documents:

http://www.marinhumanesociety.org/Behavior/Handouts/PEP.pdf
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/nilif.pdf
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/educated-dog.pdf