No, it's the same metal dish he's always used. Heh, funny about your dog backing away from the paw print. Cockers are funny, aren't they, about strange objects. Fraser will be happily bouncing along a path and then spy a block of styrofoam or bit of plastic or practically any lumpy thing and go into spooky mode, nervously creeping forward to investigate but with his back legs stretched out so far back it looks like they've discussed the matter and they're not coming along.
Otherwise, he has no trouble sitting, shows none of the signs of problem anal glands. The only thing I can think is I've either bumped him accidentally and forgotten or put his dish down clumsily making a clunk and he's got it in his head that his food bowl is unpredictable and dangerous. I took extra care this morning to lay it down gently. I'll see if the spookiness dies out. The little yelp surprised me though. For such sturdy animals, cockers really can be fainting violets sometimes.
