Place the pup's favourite toys, bedding, treats etc in the cage and let the pup wander in and out until they get used to it which should take minutes as it'll be it's own little den, it's own little space in the world where nothing bad ever happens and the puppy can go for time out.

I was very sceptical about cages when I first got Freya but I bought a cheap one, tried it out and was converted as I could still get on with mundane things without having to chase the pup everywhere making sure she didn't get into any trouble.
I also felt that it gave the pup it's own little space, a time out zone so it can relax in peace.
Freya loved her cage although she didn't even notice when it was taken away.

TRAINING
Always try to use what I call "keywords" as dogs don't understand sentences but sounds and always try to be consistent in your training so as not to confuse the dog.

The first word I taught Freya was "no" which she learned very quickly, really handy for when your out and about and the pup tries to eat things it's not meant to eat.  Freya to this day hasn't picked anything up off the street and is very well behaved when told.

The next word was "leave", yet again very handy for all the above including shoes, socks etc.  To date all she has savaged has been her own toys, a pair of deck shoes which were allowed and a little nibble on the skirting board, well she can't be perfect.

Another handy word is "off".
When shifting your dog off the chair it's amazing how many people say "down", which we all know means down and not off so when moving your pup use the word "off", especially if your wanting it to lie down when told on other occasions.

Oh and do remember when leaving your pup to put either the radio or tv on for it as dogs are companion animals and get quite upset when left.
You could also leave a kong, activity ball etc stuffed full of food or treats, that'll keep puppy occupied for a while, and try leaving interactive toys lying around as these will also keep puppy entertained.

And who could forget the "release" word.  This is a special word to use to let the puppy know it's finished that particular lesson and can have fun.

I have always used a combination of both verbal commands and hands signals.
This I found comes in very handy when puppy isn't close by or when doing what I call "static" training i.e. sits, waits, stays etc.

When training some people think you shouldn't use the dogs name as this encourages them to move but in my book I use the name when doing what I call "mobile" training
i.e. recalls, aways, distance control, no and leave etc for example, Freya come, Freya leave, Freya down.  This way I find that you get the pups attention before issuing the command.

When teaching "static" exercises I just give the command, that way the dog knows I'm not asking, I'm telling after all, it could save your dogs life one day.

When outside, tell puppy to go "pee pee" or whatever word you chose and ignore the pup until it has done it's needs.
Don't play or interact just remind puppy why it's out.
Once puppy's done it's stuff big fuss and play.

I for one have never used the newspaper trick as I feel that it only encourages the dog to do it's needs on any piece of paper that happens to be lying around.
My way of training is also very useful on a cold, wet, winters night when the last place you want to be is standing outside with a hyper pup whose wanting to play.
Freya was trained within two weeks using this method.

Place a treat in your hand then place your hand palm down between the front paws, ask your puppy to go down.
When puppy does this give the treat and big fuss.
I find that if I do this very quickly Freya throws herself down, I pause slightly then treat and a fuss.

I use the treat tin on a regular basis for all sorts of things now and it works every time.

Place the dog on your left side in either the sit or down position.
With the flat of your hand place it in front of the dogs face and tell puppy to wait then walk away, don't go too far as puppy will panic.
Turn to face puppy, hand up with palm facing the pup and re-command the wait then return to the dog.

When the pup arrives it should nuzzle the underneath of your hands in search of his treat.
Try to get puppy to sit in front, pause, treat & fuss.

One thing to remember when you walk away in all these lessons is never turn round and look at puppy; walk away with confidence that puppy will stay where you left him and always re-command when you return before breaking off and giving puppy a big fuss.

What I do when she pulls is either turn and walk the other way, stop or walk backwards,
either way she comes straight back to my side only to shoot off again but after a few false starts, she realizes that she's not getting far and starts to walk nicely.

They love this game as the tails just keep on wagging.

Through time you can get puppy to wait, throw the toy then send the dog to find it, I use my away word for this and they really do love it, not only that but it stimulates them mentally as well.

To begin with just take puppy short trips round the block etc gradually increasing the distance over time.
Try not to swerve about too much as this will disorientate puppy both frightening him and making him sick.
It's best taking puppy out in the car before feeding & if possible, after some exercise as he should be more settled.

Talk to puppy, sing along to the radio and be very matter of fact about the ordeal.
If puppy continues to scream and shout, ignore him and hopefully he'll get the message that his tantrums aren't working.

If puppy continues to be sick an old trick a farmer friend taught us was newspaper.
Place the paper under puppy, for some reason
it does stop the sickness or at least reduce it.
I have tried this trick when picking up dogs and trust me
it works.

It's important to get puppy used to all kinds of strange things in the early days so don't change routine's in the house.
Keep hovering, washing clothes, banging doors and all the other daily noises in life,
this way you should be desensitizing puppy without it even knowing it.

The golden rule is to keep being matter of fact about things and not to make a big issue after all, if your not frightened then why should puppy !

Okay now fair enough, if puppy gets a fright a little reassurance doesn't go wrong whilst introducing puppy to whatever it was that frightened it but overdoing it can lead to serious consequences in later years.

Reassurance in moderation I suppose.

Freya went through a stage that if anything had been moved outside such as a wheelie bin or a traffic cone then it was very obviously a threat and had to be avoided.
When this happened I just asked her what was wrong, took her over to the offending item, let her investigate then carried on our merry way.

If however your dog is already scared of loud noises, there are lots of different holistic remedies that can be purchased from your local chemist or health shop that can be given when the dog has a fright or in the lead up to bonfire night.
Our favourites include Rescue Remedy or Valerian
although we've only used it as a preventative measure, we've been very lucky to have had noise proof dogs thankfully.

I've found that if your totally erratic in your training as in you don't know what your going to do next, this is the best way as the dog can't anticipate what's next after all, what chance has the dog got if you don't know !

I had a ball training Freya and if I could start up a puppy training school then I would as I just loved it.
You too could have a great time and I hope the above may be of use to you.
Obviously I haven't gone into everything here as it's far too comprehensive but at least it'll give you a grounding before you attend training classes.

Are the dogs happy, under control and are the trainers dog friendly, by this I mean is it frog marching around the room pulling on the lead which happens to be attached to a choke chain ? If so then I for one would turn round and look elsewhere as this is the old school training with barbaric measures.
Watch out for bully boy tactics as this too isn't needed when training your family friend.

As for choke chains, put one around your arm whilst attached to a lead then get a friend to pull on it very sharply, trust me it'll hurt. 
Do you really want to inflict this on your pup ???

Go for classes that are well controlled, happy dogs, happy handlers and reward based.

When I mention "classes that are under control",
the reason for this was recently a puppy trainer at a training class took them all outside then told the owners to let them off.
A few of them thought better of it but the few who thought the trainer knew what she was doing did what they were asked.
Luckily all the pups were caught eventually but not after a couple of fights had broken out hence
"are the classes  under control".