Having Issues with Dog

My friend asked me to get some information for her about her dog. I'm hoping that someone out there can help. Joy, my friend, has a 2 year old NewFoundland, Male dog. The problem is, she got the dog from the humane society and the dog had been previously abused. Max (her dog) is very skiddish around anyone, but is especially afraid of men. Anything new to the environment scares him. The problem that she is having with him right now is that when she is home with Max, he is fine. He is still Skiddish but clearly loves her. When she leaves, he poops and then runs through his mess and smears it everywhere. She goes through this everyday and has to go home during her lunch hour to clean up the mess. We think it is separation anxiety but how do you retrain him? He can't be tied up or caged because he freaks out. If she lets him roam the house freely, he makes one mess and usually doen't make a mess of that. But if she ties him up or cages him, he makes the bigger mess where he walks through it and smears it everywhere. Obviously, she cannot punish him or that would break his spirit even more. Any advice?

I would try very slowly to start crating him when she is there, then work from there....Crate will help with security issues.

Can you friend take some vacation time, and slowly ( a few minutes at a time) get the dog used to being alone?

Here's a bunch of information on fearful dogs and separation anxiety.

http://www.wonderpuppy.net/canwehelp/dbfear.htm

From what you've written, it sounds like the defecation is caused by fear and distress. Frightened dogs will often do this to surround themselves with their own scent, so it comforts them. These dogs should never EVER be punished for this, as that will increase their stress and fear.

Here's another article on this behavior and how to handle it.
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/separtn.htm