I feel your pain, literally. I have had a dwarf retic the last few months that has been verging on satanic. I posted this in other threads, but it took us literally months before he didn't tag me repeatedly every handling. He still nips once in a while, but its gotten better.
I am going to retry hook training. The first time we initiated the process, he would lunge and strike at the hook. Consistency is key with these guys. And I definitely know what you mean about still striking once out of the cage. My dwarf will strike at anything that moves even while in my hands.