just adopted a yorkie

Question
hi,
i adopted a yorkie 6 weeks ago i love him, he is adorible and will be 5yrs old on july 8th. i rescued him from a woman that had him for 3 months she told me that he never barks and is house trained. he barks and growles at people and i am wondering why. also he poops in my apt. i know that he is trained because i can leave him for hours. do you think that is is doing this because he is mad at me or perhaps jelious of my grandson? he loves me very much when i get home he gets so excited that he pees and that i can understand.another thing how do i teach him to do tricks? thank you i look forward to hearing from you. COLLEEN

Answer
Hi Colleen,
 How do you know he isn't peeing in the apartment?  He could be doing it in a hiding place.  I wouldn't leave any new dog loose in my house.  I personally would get a crate for him to be in while he can't be supervised.  He should be old enough that he shouldn't be doing happy pees.  
What do you do when he growls at people??  Do you tell him no or stop or just let him continue?  I don't allow my dogs to bark or growl at anyone.  If I am having an issue like that with a new older dog like yours I make sure that I put them on a choke chain and also have treats.  They get a correction if they bark and a treat if they are not at people.  Dogs usually aren't jealous.  
 As far as tricks.......you have to be paitent and consistant.  Use lots of reward treats, not big peices. I like to use very small peices of hot dogs.  I cut them so small.  They don't care if its the size of a quarter or the size of a pea which it usually is, its something special.  Saying YES after each time he does something you like and treating him at the same time.  You must be quick on the reward and praise so he connects the behavior with the YES and Treat.  You can teach them to do anything like this.

 Hope some of this helps.
Sincerely,
Tammy