Borzoimom is 100% right. In all honesty your family is creating these problems with the dog and is making them worse by how you are responding to it. I do not say this to be mean in any way honestly. She sounds like she was not socialized enough as a puppy, by being taken out to different situations where she would learn about new peopel and new things. I'm guessing if she did go out and got scared you would comfort her, or pick her up, etc etc. By doing that is is teaching her that she is right to be afraid of all of the things she reacts to. By your increasing coaxing and attention when she is behaving inappropriately, you are encouraing and in fact making the problem worse as time goes on, as you can see. She also sounds like she has separation anxiety. You will have to break her of the howling using a crate, and ONLY let her out when she stops for several minutes, AND comletely ignore her when she is in there. The dog does not need to be put down, she needs to be retrained and it's going to be hard work. You guys are putting her in a place of confusion in the pack. It might be wise to seek the advice of a behaviorist who can help you pinpoint exactly what is going on and give you advice on how to change it. Good luck!