dog nervousness and growling at strangers

Question
dear susan,
my name is chris and i just recently got a pure bred beagle puppy, her name is baby girl and she is now 9 months old, my girlfriend and i got her about a month and a half ago, and she is the sweetest dog when it is with my girlfriend and i. unfortunatly the house we live in has different family members showing up every day and there is nothing we can do about it. when people come around other than my girlfriend and i, she runs around as if to try to get away from them and runs under my legs and shakes very badly and growls at whomever is the closest the whole time that they are visible, sometimes she even goes potty on the floor because she is so scared. i do not know what to do about the situation and if she dowesnt shape up within the next month, we will have to get rid of her. is there any type of advice that you can give me to fix this problem because my mind is boggled and i cannot afford the training guides and such that i need to work with her. if it helps any, the people we got her from were going to use her as a hunting dog but she was gun shy and afraid of loud noises as well, when they found this out the first time hunting, they put her in a large outside cage with the rest of her beagle family and never let her leave the cage again. please help my girlfriend and i do something to fix this problem before we have to get rid of a perfectly good dog because of these problems. thnk you so much.    sincerly,chris

Answer
Dear Chris, Thank you so much for writing. Fear and anxiety are fairly easy to get rid of, but she must get confidence somewhere and that is from you and your girlfriend. Socialization is the key here. Take Baby Girl for frequent walks. Go to Petsmart or dog stores, go to the park, hardware stores...go,go,go. The more you socialize her, the more she will adjust and become less fearful.  Do not coddle her when she shows fear, it will show her that it is okay to be afraid. Be assertive, calmly tell her "Friend" or "Easy" in a soothing low voice and walk her away or past the new person or animal. When you begin socializing her, walk her calmly past people on a lead, do not stop if she stops, look ahead and keep walking past the boogie man. When she is calmly walking past people with you, praise her with a gentle "Good Baby Girl, Friend", or "Good Baby Girl, Easy". She will soon pick up on your calm and soothing feelings that will go right down that leash and into her. She came to you with fear issues, so it is your job to "shape her up". She cannot learn on her own, she needs you and your girlfriend to teach her that there is nothing to fear, you have it in control as the alpha dog and will not let anything bad happen to her.  She will soon understand.  Please try to be persistent and take her out for a walk (at the very least) once a day, more if possible.  And the more different environments she is in, the better. You don't need money to train a dog, just a collar, a leash, and some good advice. Leave me some feedback and please, please follow up with any question or problems you may face along the way.  I am here for you and will happily walk you through this issue anytime.  It makes me feel good when I hear that the outcome is positive and that there is a happy ending. So do not hesitate to write back as often as you like. Okay? Just remember, do not baby her when she is fearful, show her that there is nothing to fear by being a calm, assertive leader. Thanks so much for writing, Chris. Regards, Susan