Hi Helanna!
Congrats on the new puppy! Puppies are a lot of work but so worth it in the end! I have been a vet tech for about 5 years and I have 2 AKC/ASCA Australian Shepherds, both under 2 years old, so I know a thing or two about all the puppy stuff!
I have never paper trained a puppy, but I hear it is easy.. dogs are smart, they will pick it up pretty quick with the right encouragement. Lots of treats for the behaviors you want! I went around for months with puppy treats in my pockets! lol
I dont use a car seat exactly.. but I DO have a harness for each of them that straps them into the car securely. Ive seen more than one dog torn up or killed from a car crash where they didnt have a restraint, so I err on the side of caution.
When I was getting my first puppy, I spent probably $300 on toys (dont tell my husband that! lol) and it turned out he liked sticks. lol.. so I learned my lesson! They have a few kongs (I put peanut butter in them and freeze them for a day to give them a frozen treat on hot days), and some rope toys to tug with, but thats it! For outside the kong fribees and huge tennis balls are a favorite. So dont go overboard, wait to see what he likes to play with best. Some dogs are into different textures.
The vets at my hospital (one of the largest on the central coast of california), say that raw is fine if you're up for all the work... I mean if you're gonna go raw.. go raw. This means a fridge dedicated to the raw meats and veggies you're going to be preparing, getting a meat grinder if you're gonna control the diet 100%.. its a lot of work! So I feed Innova and occasionally I give them EVO canned food as a treat. Purebreeds have a tendency to have much more sensitive systems, so explore with caution. A bland diet would be white rice and boiled chicken. NEVER brown rice.
The BEST spray you can get to avoid chewing on things you dont want them to is called Bitter Apple. It works fabulously. Some dogs love to chew on wood (one of mine!), so i have to occasionally spray bitter apple on my chair legs and such. But if hes got enough toys around, electrical cords arent going to be something hes going to chew unless hes bored.
For Flea control, frontline is superior.. however in the last few years I feel like its not as potent... So I use Comfortis for flea control and Sentinel for Heartworm/Parasite/Flea control. It does not hurt to combine these two medications (you can combine frontline with comfortis for bad fleas, comfortis/ frontline with heartgard /sentinel.) Your vet will help you with this plan of action and answer any questions you have about it.
Crate training is absolutely crucial. Dogs love having a safe comfortable space.. my dogs love their crates.. When its time for us to go to bed, I say, "Bed time!" and they run into their crates and settle down. They will even ask to go into their crates for naps!
As far as training goes.. i cant say it enough. Puppy class, puppy class, puppy class! Your dog needs to start meeting people and other dogs before 4 months of age. By this time their socialization is set in and they are either confident dogs or fearful / aggressive dogs. Puppy class will help you get direction for how to co-exist with your new puppy, and help him/her be comfortable round other dogs and people. It is very important to expose your puppy to as many different things as possible... babies, older people, bycicles, all kinds of things. but remember, only allow people you trust to touch your puppy before hes had all his parvo vaccines. this is a VERY contageous virus that can either be very expensive to cure or fatal. I used to carry hand sanitizer around for people to use before they held them.. I wasnt risking parvo! But I digress... puppy class!! even if all you can find is petsmart training or something.. I would recommend finding a club near you who does all levels of training.
My puppies have each continued up into Expert Obedience at only 1 year old and it makes such a huge difference in how we all co-exist together. Also, if you rent instead of own, having your dog in puppy class and getting them their Good Canine Citizenship Award makes all the difference to landlords.
Getting a new puppy is so exciting! Take lots of pictures because they grow and change so fast!