hiding open programs in the dock

Is there a way to run a program without it showing in the dock? I'd like to run one but when minimized it wouldn't show in the dock for others to see it's still running or never in the dock at all.

os 10.4.11

No, that simply isn't how the Dock works. You can turn on auto-hiding for the Dock. At least that way it will slide offscreen when you aren't actively hovering over it.

the program is second life and when minimized if someone chats in the program the icon bounces. will this caused the dock to come back after it has slide off?

There used to be an application that would hide open applications on the dock, I believe it was called "Dockless". I don't think there is a leopard version out though.

there is a program called dock dodger: http://foggynoggin.com/dockdodger
it has worked for some of my apps and did not for others

not sure if this would work, but what about when you put a program in your login items (under accounts in sys prefs) and check the 'hide' box ?