Having been an outside dog, he should be relatively easy to housebreak as he has presumably already developed a substrate preference for grass. I would train him like any other dog with lots of praise and treats when he goes outside (although with this particular dog, I'd lower the volume and excitement of the praise a notch to keep from scaring him).
As far as his not wanting to go when you are present, you have the right idea in pretending to ignore him. Apparently, he finds your presence distracting for whatever reason. Turn sideways to him. Yawn. Look up at the sky. Yawn. Pick a piece of grass and study it. Yawn. These are all calming signals to a dog which say to him "I'm no threat to you". When you do make eye contact with him, do so with "soft" eyes - like you look at a baby (with eyelids slightly closed).
I bet this pup will get it pretty quick.
__________________  FirstYorkie
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