Need help!!!

[Time_To_Remember]

a good friend of mine has recently purchased a new puppy, he is a pug/maltese mix, he is just 17 weeks old right now.. so she lives in an apartment and her and her boyfriend take turns taking him outside various times in the day for him to go do his business....well the first few weeks he was fantastic with going pee and pooh outside, well NOW he refuses to completely, he will only pee and pooh INSIDE and will not go outside, no matter houw long they have him out.... im not familuar with them breed, and personally have had very easy dogs to house train, so i dont know what else to suggest her to do...
does anyone know what they can do to help this problem?
This is what she told me they do with him right now "we either bring him for a walk or we let him run around on his own to do his business... like at night we keep him on a leash cuz its dark but during the day he usually gets to run around as much as he wants so he can 1) do his business and 2) spend some of his energy"

any suggestions?

[Maxy24]

Are they rewarding him for going outside? are they keeping him closely supervised inside using leashes and crates? The dog should not be given an opportunity to potty inside, he should be taken out and if he does not go should be brought in and kept on leash near the owner or should be crated for 10-15 minutes and then go out again until he finally goes outside and is rewarded. The more he is rewarded the more he will do it.

[wishbone]

Also they should completely clean up the house for he might still smell his pee and poop scents and do his business inside.

[protodog]

Also, I would suggest they take him out on a leash each time to potty, and after he goes (and gets his reward), then turn him loose to run. If they always have him on a leash for potty time, they'll always be right there to give him a timely reward.

[Time_To_Remember]

Originally Posted by Maxy24

Are they rewarding him for going outside? are they keeping him closely supervised inside using leashes and crates? The dog should not be given an opportunity to potty inside, he should be taken out and if he does not go should be brought in and kept on leash near the owner or should be crated for 10-15 minutes and then go out again until he finally goes outside and is rewarded. The more he is rewarded the more he will do it.

yep they reward him everytime he goes outside

[Time_To_Remember]

Originally Posted by protodog

Also, I would suggest they take him out on a leash each time to potty, and after he goes (and gets his reward), then turn him loose to run. If they always have him on a leash for potty time, they'll always be right there to give him a timely reward.

thanks, i told her and she said its a great idea and shes going ot try tht with him form now on, to see if it makes a difference!

[Pits&Pugs]

Not sure if they are doing this yet as well...but its great to keep to a schedule....for feeding and going out