Hi M.!
Congrats on the newest member of the family. One day I lost my mind :) and got 2 golden retriever puppies at the same time. Ohhhhh they were so cute and fuzzy but then they began to grow and.............OK so we did go to Petsmart training and it is a great great start. Teaching basics like sit, stay, rollover, etc. The main thing is the time you spend with your dog. I have to say the best best training was throught the show The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan. It is on the National Geographic Channel. I tape every episode and he has books out there. He can do anything with any dog. It's amazing and it trully works. Our dogs are now 2 years old which is kind of a magical age for a dog. They settle down and the puppiness settles also so don't give up it just takes a lot of work, patience, love (kind of like our kids?) It will get frustrating,,,,,good Lord does it get frustrating. One night our dogs stayed up all night throwing up simueltaneously because they ate our entire sega palm outside. I stayed up all night with throwing up dogs and I have to tell you (I'm laughing) I was really sick of the dogs at that point!!!! We made it though and I would not take for our dogs. They are part of our family and my kids learn so much from them (love, empathy, friendship etc.)
So I know this is a long answer but I just had to respond since I just went through this myself. Start with Petsmart, it is a great program and check out Cesar Milan! Good luck and have fun!
M.