Yey! There's hope!

Judy just came over and spent some time with Gizmo. She seems to think that with a couple of accommodations and some training, he could be just fine. He is a very good dog in every other respect; he just get overwhelmed when he doesn't have any way to have downtime. So we're going to try X, Y, and Z. Already I can see a huge difference in Gizmo's "state." He's much more relaxed. And we had Brendan do certain caretaking/playmate things with him, and we reinforced certain things that he is NOT to do (like pick up the dog or take him outside without permission and an adult present). And Judy taught me how to train the dog to walk away from a high intensity situation and go to "his spot." It'll take time, of course, but she thinks he's amenable to being trained. And she's bringing a baby gate so that we can keep him in the kitchen of the house is full of kids. All fingers and toes crossed ...