my gray miniature poodle

Question
We have a 6 month old miniature. We got him a month ago. He is
still not asking to go out and will at times pee right in front of me in the house. What is going on? Is he being spiteful? We are using cheese as a treat, outside only after he pees or poops. I am perturbed by his not asking behavior.
We've taken him out enough times to think he would know where his pee spot is. It's the no warning that's got me stumped. Tonight he did it again. No sniffing warning, no going to the door. Are they really that smart?

Answer
Hello Tina,
One of the most successful ideas that I have found for teaching your dog to let you know when he has to go out is the Bell Method.  
Hang a jingle bell from the door that your dog goes out to potty through and every time that you take your dog outside, have him touch the bell with his nose.  Give him a treat when he touches the bell with his nose, then take him outside.  When he potties outside, praise him.  Soon he will start ringing the bell when he needs to go outside.  When he does this on his own, give him lots of praise so he knows he has done something good.  
Be sure to clean up the accidents with a Pet Approved cleaning product that is designed to clean up pet messes.  Otherwise your dog will continue to return to the places where he smells that he has gone before.  Wal-Mart carries Out, which is a good Pet Cleaner and also a product called Kids N' Pets (back in the cleaning supplies) that works good on Pet Messes.  
When you see him going potty on the floor, tell him NO! in a loud voice, then take him outside straight away.  When you clean up his mess, get mad at the mess.  Tell the pee spot NO! hit the floor around the potty and tell it bad.  Your dog will realize that this is a bad spot to potty in.  I know it sounds funny, but your dog will get the idea.  

Another thing you can do is try to get him on a schedule of going out at the same time each day.  Maybe every 6 hours or so.  That way, he will have these specific times that he goes out and you won't have to guess when he has to go.  If you free feed him, change to feeding him 2 times a day instead so that you know when he is eating and therefore will have an idea when he needs to go out.  
Give him a month or so for these changes to take place, it won't happen over night.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim