Dog afraid of boyfriend

Question
Kristen-
I think my dog is afraid of my boyfriend. I've had Pedro, a three-year-old
mutt from the Humane Society, since he was 12 weeks old and he's fully
housebroken.

For the past few months, though, if I'm not home, anytime my boyfriend (who
I've been dating for about a year and a half) gets too close to him, looks at
him for too long or attempts to give him a command (usually, "Go to bed" to
put him in the crate before he leaves for work), Pedro poops. This is usually
accompanied by fearful behavior (standing with his head down and his tail
between his legs). When my boyfriend then attempts to get Pedro to move so
that he can clean up the poop, Pedro frequently snaps at him. Occasionally,
Pedro pees in addition to pooping, too, but pooping is more common.

I think this behavior is caused by the aggressive approach my boyfriend took
when Pedro started pulling up the carpet in my apartment, near the front
door. He yelled and hit Pedro. I didn't think this behavior was appropriate and
told him so. The only problem is that while my boyfriend has amended his
behavior, Pedro still seems terrified. Having to clean poop from carpet on a
regular basis doesn't exactly help the already rocky relationship my boyfriend
has with Pedro, either. I'm at my wits end. Please help!

Answer
Amy, I think you are probably right that your boyfriend was too heavy handed with little Pedro. If I were you, I would put Pedro up before I left the house, so that your boyfriend does not have to interact with him at all when you are not there. Your boyfriend should only be 'allowed' to interact with Pedro while you are there, so that if Pedro displays inappropriate behavior, you can take care of it. Your boyfriend should not stare at Pedro, or give him any commands for awhile, until Pedro is no longer showing fearfulness when around him. Like Cesar Milan says, "No touch, no talk, no eye contact."