[melissa]

I'd just like to add that a crate is pretty much mandatory for having a puppy.
It's the quickest way of housetraining a dog, and it REALLY comes in handy for containing the pup especially at night, when you can't be watching him - pups have a habit of going wandering through the house at night, which can be dangerous for them, and can cause a huge mess for you to have to clean up.
You don't have to buy a crate, you can make one yourself. I have absolutely no carpentry skills whatsoever and I just hammered some boards together into a box, and then for the door I used a grilling tray for the oven bordered by wood. This let my pup see out, while still being safely contained (and also it alerted me to if she ever needed to get out, because she'd paw the door and the grill would make a rattling noise).