Considering getting a puppy

I strongly disagree with crating any dog. Some dogs have terrible separation anxiety and crating will only intensify their anxiety. We ended up getting a second dog and the anxiety our first one had was gone right then. I have known several people who crate their dogs all day and when the dogs are let out of the crate, they go absolutely nuts to let out all that pent up energy. Think about it...would you like to be shut up in a closed space like a bathroom all day? I've owned dogs all my life and currently own two adult Mini Doxies, which were rescues. Adult dogs are a great way to go, as they are able to hold themselves longer. Rescues seem to know when they have a good situation and make superb pets.
Do a LOT of research on the type of dog you want. Some breeds, such as Dachshunds, are notoriously difficult to housetrain. If you do it right, any dog can successfully be very well housetrained. I recommend getting a book called How to housetrain your dog in seven days. It is the only one I found that covered a working household where the occupants are at work all day. We followed the book's instructions to the letter and both of our adult dogs, which had never been inside before, were 95% housetrained within a week!
Also, consider the activity level of the dog you are looking at.
BTW - look at Cardigan Corgies - that will be my next dog!
Good luck
RR