Crate training actually has a lot of benefits for both the dog and the owner. It's hard those first couple of weeks though. I remember when we had our puppy I laid on the floor near the crate with my hand between the bars so she could sniff me and lick my hand if she needed to. The good thing is, eventually you don't need to always put them in the crate, but when you do, you know they will behave and not whine. If you use it as a fun place not a punishment it also becomes a bit of safe space for them. Which is helpful if you have to have workers over or service people in your house. Probably not as big of a deal with small dog like yours, but with our 60 pound girl, it was more of an issue.
I hadn't thought much about this, but yeah - not an issue for ours. What we are doing though is making sure different people visit so they get used to being around different type of people. We want to be able to take him all over the place, which wasn't possible with our last dog.
That makes a lot of sense.