He is cute! I agree that dogs are pack dogs. How many hours do you think he is going to be in his crate? Puppies his age need to go out every couple of hours because they just can't hold it very long. If you train him to pee on a pad you might as well train him to pee on the floor. IMO that doesn't teach them anything but I'm no expert as I have only raised one puppy. Just because he is big doesn't mean he will tear your house apart. I trust my bigger dogs alone in the house more than my smaller ones. He probably won't grow that big with his mix probably 30-40 pounds.