Training Your Puppy
I am always asked many specific training questions, and offer my best advice, only to find out later I was wrong. Different trainers say different things, and research in the dog training world is always evolving. My advice is that you enroll your puppy at a dog training school and leave these questions to the experts. It is far too important for the development of a well behaved dog, that you can take anywhere with confidence, not to take this step. Trust me when I say if you think you know what you're doing, you will be surprised that you didn't either. Dog training is not what is was 10 years ago, not even close. As Cesar Milan says, there are no bad dogs (just untrained owners).
In the Cape Cod area, I highly recommend Joseph's Obedience School in Bourne. He has a 6 puppy limit, a huge immaculate professional space, and a lifetime of experience with everything from training, showing, breeding, feeding, etc. At my first lesson there, I learned everything I never knew I never knew, and you will too. It was well worth the extra cost and travel distance!! People who start there often remain enrolled in various classes (they have everything) for many years, as training your dog is a hobby with significant rewards.
While waiting for your new puppy to come home, or for your first class to begin, I recommend the book, Perfect Puppy in 7 Days, available on Amazon. It will give you a start for when you take your puppy home and aren't sure what to do to get him started off right. How often should I feed him, how do I crate train him so he isn't traumatized, why is my puppy puddling on the floor just after she went out, etc. I personally love books by Cesar Milan also.
This is Coco, our Portuguese Water Dog, learning agility in a puppy kindergarten class at Joseph's. She loved it and wanted to run through when it wasn't her turn 💕