I was wondering besides redirecting the puppy and building a relationship what other benefits are there in teaching the touch command? Does this command lead to another command?

I have used the touch command for a couple of things.

It can be used to get a dog amped up for a training session. A couple of "Yesss!"es can get a lazy/unmotivated dog in the mood to work worth you.

I have used it to relieve stress while training a dog another, more difficult command. Imagine both of you just getting frustrated while trying to grasp a concept. It is a quick and easy positive break for both of you to put you both in a better state of mind to get back to the hard stuff.

I have used it to get a dog into a position. I use my hand as a target. I can bring a dog to where I want them by asking for the touch in a location. Think of going under something, or onto something. I always use it to get a dog on to a scale at the vets office easily, and then ask for a sit.

A fun use for it with a shy dog or person is in the introduction. If a child is a little wary of my large dogs, I will show them that the dog likes to touch his nose to their hand. It can get a quick giggle out of them, when before they were too scared to touch the dog themselves, while taking the pressure off. I used it to get a shy rescue to approach people. Once she knew that a touch got her a treat, and that the scary person wasn't going to touch her, she went to them willingly.

It can also be used to teach nose or paw tricks. If the dog targets a stick with one or the other (or both), they can be taught to turn on/off lights, close doors, point things out, wave, shake and many other things.

Hope that gives you some ideas!

I asked this same question back in March and got a bunch of good answers. I'll try to link it for you here: http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/184257/page/0/fpart/1

Thanks Jessica and Ingrid, that cleared up a lot for me.