My westie has biting problems

Question
My 5 yr old Westie has me very concerned.  Last year at a picnic we had at our house, he nipped a child in the thigh.  At the time we had him tied up and the children were jumping around him so we attributed his nip to being afraid that he may get stepped on and/or frustration at being tied up with so many strangers in the yard.

Last weekend, my brother came to visit -- my dog doesn't really know him that well but had a blast playing with him for quite a long time.  Late that evening, my brother was petting him on the bed, my dog turned over and laid his head down.  My brother came very close to his face and without warning my dog bit him on the nose, biting through both sides of his nostrils.  Of course there was alot of blood, I was upset and my brother was injured.  He fortunately didn't need medical care, but it concerned me that my dog turned so suddenly.

It was only 5 days ago that this happened.  Today we were at my father's house for Thanksgiving when he attacked my sister by grabbing and biting her foot.  She shook him off and he attacked her foot again.  He drew blood this time as well.  They were in the kitchen and he was catching turkey dropped on the floor while they were cleaning up after the meal.  Apparently, there was a piece of turkey on the floor which he was trying to get to when my sister walked past him.  I guess he thought she was going to try to get the turkey away from him.

I am very upset and feel like I should either take him to the SPCA or have him put down.  I don't want to do either but I obviously cannot trust him around anyone but my husband and myself (there are no kids in our house).  

He has also snapped at 3 other people causing pressure type bites, never breaking the skin though.  Each time he has bitten someone makes excuses for him saying it was their fault, they got too close to him, they startled him, etc.  I cannot keep allowing him to bite and believing that it is the other persons fault.

Do you have any idea why he would start such aggressive behavior around strangers?  Normally he loves attention and enjoys when people visit.  Now I'm thinking if I don't get rid of him, I'm going to have to keep him locked in a room away from company or keep him muzzled the whole time we're visiting or having visitors.  Do I have any other choices?

Thank you!

Answer
Hi Lisa;
DON'T have him put down.
The children jumping around him while he was ti\ed upwas not a good situation, and I can see were that may have triggered a nip, but he got away with it, and has continued to get away with it, so he probably thinks there is nothing wrong with it.
This will only get worse unless he is properly trained.
Petsmart and Petco stores, the Humane Society, Man's Best Friend are all good sources for obedience classes,
You would benefit by learning to do massages on him for aggression.
This behavior could possibly be atributed to insecurity on his part, and massage would help him get over that.
Go to this site,and read about what can be done with these massages, and you can order a video from there to learn to do the massages.

   www.lindatellington-jones.com

This is DEFFINATELY something that you can fix, with the proper training and if it does have to do with insecurity or nerves, massages.
Charlotte