Dog anxiety/aggression

Question
I have (what I think is) a Whippet mix (his name is Cole) that I got from a local pound in the Bay Area (California) about 4 years ago.  I believe he was about 3 months old when I got him.  I did notice odd behavior right away when he was in the pound.  He sat in the middle of the kennel and didn't want to budge to greet people who were interested in seeing him through the chain-link fence.  However, he was very unique (he is blue and white) and sweet looking and when I asked to enter the kennel and pick him up, he let me hold and pet him as well as the guy that was there supervising.  I knew right away that I wanted to adopt him and so I did.  That was the background, here is the problem:

After picking him up a few days later (I had to wait until he was neutered and given the proper shots) and bringing him home, he seemed to be very shy around other people, but soon came to love my sister and roommate (girl).  The problem was, anytime any one of us had guys over, he would immediately run to my room and hide under the bed.  This behavior was especially worse when they were wearing hats.  Sometimes my boyfriend would try to fish him out, but Cole would kind of moan at him as if to say, "leave me alone."  This made my boyfriend angry because he thought Cole might try to bite him, even though he never did.  Finally after months, and years, they now love each other.

Cole's biggest problem is that he has nipped, and tried to nip at several people, including my husband's younger brother, my best friend, and my husbands friend.  All of these instances involved the other people either jumping up and down and screaming, rushing up to hug me very quickly, or my husband play fighting with friends/brothers when there is yelling, screeching, and high-pitched laughing involved.  I believe that Cole doesn't know the difference between "rough play" and actual violence, involving one of us.  He assumes it's aggression and tries to protect my husband by nipping the other person.  The last time he actually bit his friend, he had a bruise on his side for a week or so and even nicked him.

I get scared whenever Cole is around and there are people over who are getting too excited about a football game (or the like) where there might be some jumping up and down and yelling.  I know this behavior is only intended to protect us, but I'm afraid he might one day go to far and actually do some damage and I will have to put him down. :((  He really is a sweetheart around people otherwise and has become a lot more used to having people around and will lay at their feet and let them pet him.  When they are being too rough with him he usually lets out a small growl to let them know he is irritated (has NEVER tried to bite in these instances), but from the beginning I have always told him a firm "NO" and "BAD BOY."  So he knows that behavior like that will not be tolerated.

I don't know what to do besides put him outside or in a different room when things get too highly excited. I don't ever want to have to put him down! He only wants to protect us.  I am convinced that he had some traumatic experience when he was a puppy, that led him to believe that men were bad (he's much much better now) and that experience has traumatized him for life.  

I'm sorry in advance for the essay!  It's been four years and he has greatly improved behaviorally, but all it takes is me forgetting to put him out when things get excited and I'm afraid he will strike at the person that is making the most noise.  It's a horrible feeling to not fully trust your dog! He is an awesome companion; I don't want to loose him. What should I do?

Thank you for your time!

Answer
Tianna,
What is going on here is that you want the personality of a golden retriever in a whippet cross. It's not going to happen.
Whippets, greyhounds, saluki's, Italian greyhounds are all sight hunting dogs- bred to run and hunt.

They are very high strung dogs for that reason and they are not recommended as pets in families that are noisy and boisterous. That's what the Simon & Shuster dog book says. It even shows them with a symbol of teeth, meaning, could bite. ALL dogs have that potential, we all know that, but some breeds are worse than others.

Nothing happened to him except being in the pound. He was probably too nervous for his previous owners. That doesn't mean he was abused.

It's in their personalities to be shy, retiring and skittish. Very rarely do they become happy, bouncy dogs. You are doing him a FAVOR by putting him in another room when you have company. That is all he can handle with the nervous system he was born with.

It's not a bad thing, he is just what he is. When he threatens to bite or does bite, it's because his threshold of tolerance has been overreached. I am sure there is some protectiveness of you in there but the main factor is that he cannot handle the noise and movements.

So your choice is to get used to his personality and ALWAYS give him a quiet, safe spot in the house when you have friends over, or find him a home with a couple of older retired folks that aren't going to have loud parties.

Next time you get a dog think about your lifestyle first and find one that fits into it. If you are planning on having kids, get a kid friendly dog. The libraries usually have the book on dogs that tells you about their personalities, whether or not they make good family dogs, etc.

You MUST be vigilant about removing him before you have guests. The threat of him biting someone really badly can be a great liability for you. So be very careful about it, or start having parties at your friends houses and leave him at home.

He cannot be a dog of a another breed. He is who he was born to be. You need to adjust to that or take him to a very good trainer that can desensitize him to really loud men and parties. It will cost a lot of money and I don't know how successful you would be with a whippet.

Hope that helps some. I know it's probably not what you wanted to hear but it's the facts! Enjoy him for who he is. :-)