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It wasnt until I put the food bowl down, made him wait, and let him approach his bowl did he start to growl at me. I then picked up the bowl, put it on the counter and walked away.
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I'd stop doing that right away, taking the bowl away when he growls! I don't see how he would understand that you are taking it away
because of the growl, but I could see him deciding that he'd better give you a chomp so he can keep the food! You are a food thief! It's a good thing he likes you so much or you wouldn't have gotten away with stealing his food.
I'd start over. I'd have him sit while the food is prepared and placed on the floor. I'd move to a different area of the kitchen, even if it's a small kitchen and you can only move a few feet away. Then release him so he can go to the food, but you stay away and simply ignore him while he eats. It would be even better if you could change the feeding location (place to place the bowl) to a quiet place where you don't have to go past him. For some reason he has developed a distrust of you and thinks he is not going to be able to eat once you place the bowl down. You could probably figure out how that distrust developed if you reviewed all you've been doing (probably just too darn much fussing and testing to be sure you can take the food!), but it really doesn't matter why it developed. Start afresh with a new feeding pattern and IGNORE him. And keep your eyes off him and the food bowl! Staring is rude! (and challenging) Eventually he will stop worrying about you, meaning he will not bother to growl anymore.
I don't know how many strangers you have wandering around during feeding time that you have to worry about them walking past him, but if you really do have them around, then tell them to bug out of the room or feed him at a different time. If you are just anticipating strangers being around someday, well, I think that just indicates that you've made this an unnecessary issue between the two of you. If there are children around, get rid of them while he eats.
Really, he just doesn't trust you right now, for this. Punishing him for a reason he does not understand is just going to make him distrust you more, you food thief. This is one problem that if you ignore it, it will go away! It will take a little while probably, because he is going to have to forget that he (thinks) he has to growl to be able to eat.