Growling is a means of communication so if your dog is growling at you it means she's trying to tell you something - generally that she's not comfortable with what's going on. If you ignore these warnings (which in dog communication are polite, controlled warnings) it can leave the dog with no option other than to escalate to snapping or biting. What you want to do is mainly to find out why she feels uncomfortable and why she feels like she has to give these warnings in the first place and while you do this you want to avoid putting her in these situations as far as possible.
From what you've posted I think it's clear that your girl does not like it when you grab at her, and understandably so, a lot of, if not most dogs find this intimidating and confrontational. Instead of going after her and grabbing at her in these situations you need to entice her to come to you - you have to make coming to you a pleasant and worthwhile experience for her and to do this you can use your voice, your body language, toys and/or food or anything else you can think of that she really likes and is rewarding for her. If she takes something you don't want her to have grab a toy or treat (it helps to keep some really special stuff that she loves but only gets in this situation) and make out like it's the best thing EVER! If she's a typical Cocker (which it sounds like she is!) she won't be able to resist coming to investigate and then you can praise her for being a good girl and coming to you rather than grabbing at her for running away.
As suggested a house line would be a good idea for her, this is a lightweight piece of cord which you attach to the dog's collar and which they wear trailing after them at all times in the house, it means that if she is in a potentially dangerous situation and you have to move her you can do it in a non-confrontational way without having to actually touch her and you can then again praise her when she does what's required.
I think it would be a good idea for you to work on your general relationship with Connie too, try some fun training exercises with her and play with her lots to reinforce the bond and trust between you. If she sees you as the source of good things in her life she will enjoy being with you and she will trust you.
One last thing, dogs don't know they've done something wrong or that they've been 'bad' after the event. They are very good at reading our body language and reacting to it though so if we come home to find they've chewed the chair and we're angry the dog may well look like they're grovelling and that they're 'sorry' but they will only be reacting to our angry body language in this instant and be trying to appease us, they won't have made the connection between us being angry now and the chair that they chewed an hour ago; they'll know that we're angry but won't understand why. Dogs live in the moment and don't feel guilt or remorse for things they've done in the past, no matter how recent that past is.
