I'm an advocate of crate training because that's what I'm doing with my little guy. Hercules is 5 1/2 months now and he seems to be doing really well with the crate.
Mya's Mom is right about the crate training info she gave you, here's my two cents worth to add....
The crate is supposed to be a comfortable, happy place for your dog. It's like their little home, or den. I think the earlier you introduce the crate, the better. That way they will get used to it and not be scared of it. Put the crate in a place where your puppy can see you. Put a towel or bed, and some toys in the crate. Introduce the crate to your puppy and put him in there for like 10-15 minutes while you are still around. He will most likely whine at first, but it's ok. It is not hurting them. When he stops whining, let him out and praise him. Give him a treat. Don't respond to the whining, or he will think whining will let him out. Slowly increase the amount of time you leave him in the crate. And eventually leave for a little while. Sometimes leave and sometimes don't. They should know that by being put in the crate, it does not automatically mean you are going to leave them. If I'm cleaning, or doing something around the house when I can't devote all of my attention to Hercules, then I put him in the crate. He'll usually just curl up and go to sleep. He is completely ok with it now and will even go in it on his own.
As for the pee pads, it's completely a personal preference thing. And for some people, if they live in extremely cold areas, they decide to use pee pads. I live in MD, which does get cold and gets snow, but I've decided to go with outside training. But it actually involves the pee pads too... We live on the 3rd floor of an apartment, and were getting tired of running up and down the steps all the time. So we built a little box to put on our balcony with the idea of putting some sod in it, so he gets used to going outside and on grass. Well sod was out of season when we came up with this idea (in November), so we put pee pads in it instead. Hopefully when we move out of the apartment he'll be able to make the switch to going on grass. I guess that'll be an issue later.
Anyway, I hope this helps. Sorry it's so long!
