Anxious, growling golden

Question
We are very concerned with our golden's behavior. Her name is Amber and she is almost 7 years old. She has always been a shy and timid dog and has had several strange behaviors. Her most concerning behavior is that she will come to us for attention / petting but if we pet her anywhere besides her head she will growl and snap at us. She used to do this only with strangers but now does it all the time. The ticks have been very bad and we try to check her for ticks but we get the same reaction. The vet thought she may have a brain tumor because she tilts her head a lot. The testing for this is very expensive and in the end they told us there is nothing we could do about a brain tumor. Is there anything we can do to change her behavior? She is so adorable and everyone wants to pet her but we are afraid to allow them to.

Answer
The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/ For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

You may also need the assistance of a good dog behaviorist.