This is a specific conversation about Puppy training — the right tools from the start — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
The first few months really do set the patterns for life — the right tools from the start make training easier and less stressful for both puppy and owner, and the wrong ones create habits that are genuinely hard to undo. Before I point you toward anything specific, I'd love to know a bit more: how old is the puppy, what breed are you working with, and what are you mainly trying to get on top of right now?
She's 10 weeks old, a Norwich Terrier. I travel a lot for work so I need stuff that's compact and portable — I can't be lugging around big bulky gear. Main thing I'm working on is basic obedience and getting her used to being calm in different environments.
inparticular.ai
A 10-week-old Norwich Terrier travelling with a busy owner — that's actually a brilliant combination if you set it up right. Terriers are sharp, motivated little dogs, and early exposure to different environments can work strongly in your favour. Before I suggest anything, one question: are you travelling mostly by car, or does she need to be comfortable on trains and in hotels too?
Mostly car, but sometimes trains and hotels yes. She needs to be settled wherever we end up, really.
inparticular.ai
Right, so the single most important piece of kit for your situation isn't a training tool in the traditional sense — it's a portable soft-sided crate. The one I'd point you to is the Ellie-Bo Folding Soft Dog Crate in size small (24 inch). It folds completely flat, weighs almost nothing, and sets up in under a minute. For a Norwich Terrier at 10 weeks, the small size will see her through to adulthood — they typically max out around 5–6kg. The reason this is the priority over a clicker or a treat pouch is that the crate becomes her consistent safe space no matter where you are. A dog that has a familiar den in an unfamiliar hotel room or on a long car journey is a calm dog, and a calm dog learns. It's the foundation everything else builds on. Pair it with a handful of high-value tiny treats kept in a small zip-lock bag in your jacket pocket and you have a genuinely travel-ready setup. The Ellie-Bo is around £25–30 on Amazon UK and has held up well for people doing exactly what you're describing.
That makes a lot of sense actually. I hadn't thought about the crate being the anchor point. Is there anything I should be doing differently in the early training sessions given that we're always in new places?
inparticular.ai
Yes — keep sessions very short and always end on something she can succeed at. Two minutes of training in a new environment is genuinely more valuable than ten minutes at home, because she's learning that your cues mean the same thing everywhere. Put the crate in the corner of wherever you are first, let her go in voluntarily for a treat, then start your session. That sequence — crate down, settle, short train, crate back — becomes the ritual she recognises, and the consistency of the ritual is what keeps her grounded when everything else is unfamiliar.
Really helpful, thank you. I'll get the Ellie-Bo ordered today.
inparticular.ai
Good choice — you'll use it for years. One last thing: in the first couple of weeks, practice folding and unfolding it at home with her watching and sniffing around it, so it becomes a familiar object before it appears in a hotel room. Norwich Terriers notice everything, and making the crate part of normal life early means she'll never be worried by it turning up somewhere new. You're starting this at exactly the right time.
