Golden Retriever aggressiveness

Question
Dear Sir:

I am writing in desperation.  We owned a Golden Retriever for 11 years--she was PERFECT.  Never showed any signs of aggression.  So we are a bit perplexed with our new Golden Retriever.  Here's the situation.  She is 10 months old.  She has the 'perfect' life.  She is capable of learning so that doesn't concern me.  She rings the bell to go out, and we've even taught her to ring the doorbell to come in.  We have two children--ages 11 (boy) and 9 (girl).  She has a very bad habit of "showing" her teeth and hissing at us if we are playing with her and doing something that she doesn't want us to do...where our last dog would get up and just move....she hissses and shows teeth at the kids and now is starting to do it more and more with my husband and I.  What are we to do to fix this problem?  Thank you in advance for your help.

Answer
Having a good pack structure reduces such problems.  The 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/  Also see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

You may want to send her to 4-H with one of the children.  In my area, clubs form soon after the first of the year.  Even many urban
areas have 4-H.  For info look in your phone book under government listings
for extension or cooperative extension offices.  Ask specifically about a dog
or canine club.