Aggression over a bone

Hi all,
             I gave Zeus a big lamb bone today and when my daughter went near him he started growling. I then tried to pat him and he became quite aggressive. He has never shown any aggression before when eating his normal kibble, he even lets my kids take the bowl away from him and hand feed him and they can pat him while he is eating it. I took the bone off him straight away and waited 10 minutes and then took it back to him but I made him eat it whilst I was holding it. I gave him a pat every minute or so while he was eating it from my hand and he didn't growl once. After about half an hour I let him have the bone and he took it away immediately and buried it in the garden. Is this normal 3 month old pup behaviour and can anyone recommend something I can do to stop this? 
Thanks.

It sounds like you are already doing the right thing in making sure you can take his dog food away. You should start work on the release or drop command as well.

Imagine if you were fed dry cornflakes every single day, and then someone offered you a big roast dinner. They gave it to you, but then kept approaching and there was a constant threat that it was going to be taken away, depending on your disposition you'd yell a them to leave you alone, or back away. It's completely normal behaviour and I would actually expect it in that situation.

There's a fine line between preventing food aggression and causing food aggression. I only recommend being near a dogs food if you're adding something tastier to the bowl, this is what will making him comfortable being near his bowl, not constantly patting and stroking and annoying him. In also practise obedience with a food bowl, so I get Biscuit to sit and wait, or give paw or some other trick command before getting her food, just to teach patience around food more than anything. I agree about the leave/drop command. I remember a time when I had a foster dog in on meds and accidentally gave my dog his feed, I had to give an emergency leave at that point and she stepped back immediately. But other than that, I leave my dog alone when she's eating.

I would say it's normal too. My friend's dog never made a peep unlees he had a bone and then he would growl if you went near it   

be consistent with they normally come good

yeah my two are fine with dinner and chews - but give them a raw bone each and they get territorial ---- they used to growl and air snap at each other and the cats but never us --- now however they take their bones outside and after the initial 10mins - swop and lie next to each other -- i think the more often they have a high value bone and are taught to behave with it the sooner they calm down with it

Sounds like you're on the right path already. I always make Flo sit before feeding but she is never possesive with food, just her rope toys