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You don’t have to spend much time at dog training clubs to notice that every trainer sports at least 1 equipment tote. Trainers set themselves and their dogs up for success by being prepared.  You can tell they take their training very seriously! Raising any puppy is serious business, there are long term ramifications of NOT being prepared and NOT taking your puppy’s socialization seriously.

We send every puppy home with a tote bag. The reason isn’t just to hold all your supplies! We hope you will use this bag to set yourself (and your puppy) up for success!

Here’s my present boobler puppy, Funneigh, and her tote bag.   I thought you might like to see what we take along EVERY time we take our puppy out for training and socialization.

Funneigh von der burg Austerlitz

First, we need her tote bag.  No worries, we have this amazing Puppy Culture tote bag.

We have two of these totes, a gray one and a blue one, love the quality and functionality of them.

I love my Puppy Culture tote bag.  It holds tons without ever feeling bulky, it’s easy to get things in and out of, and it’s made from durable materials so it will hold up to lots of toting! It’s got six side pockets and two mesh side pockets. Wowza!

What do I bring when I take my puppy out and about for a basic socialization exposure?

Buckle collar with ID. We don’t hook the leash to the collar with the ID.

An emergency slip lead.

My leash, harness and collar, all ready for Funneigh.

Bait: I NEVER leave the house without bait. This great Bento box holds three different values: Highest is salmon cubes, then meatball, then a trail mix of different treats. The top has a cold pack! Super handy.

Bento box all closed up and ready for travel. I like this because i can grab just this if I’m really in a hurry.

Clean up supplies: papertowels, puppy pads, and waste bags.

of COURSE, a clicker or two.

Water from home, plus a small water bowl.

Optionals: For classes I take a chew for “down time” , a food tube, and an extra cold pack.

Bait bag: I often use my pockets, but if you prefer not to do that, bring a bait bag.

Optionals: Long line. If I’m going to a wide open park to walk or train, I always bring a long line. These are all 15 feet nylon.

Want to really do it right? Include a notebook (a small notebook was sent home in your puppy pack!) with your training and socialization goals for that day.

All packed up and ready!

Without being prepared, I would have missed being able to click/treat this voluntary attention Funneigh offered. And don’t kid yourself, puppies only become attentive adolescents if we reinforce attention consistently.

So, I hope this helps you “pack like a pro trainer”!   Fate does favor the prepared, and mannerly, well trained dogs are NOT born, they are made through consistent reinforcment of the behaviors YOU value.

Treat every outing as a training class, practice all your puppies learned skills!  Make yourself the most interesting thing in her environment!   Always be prepared!

Here’s a list of affiliate links to the items we recommend for your tote bags! I hope they work as well for you as they do for me!

Note:  Not pictured, and the subject for a future post, a travel first aid kit for dogs.

Junco “checking in” on a walk around the lake. If I wasn’t prepared with my clicker, bait bag, and a high value treat, I would not have been able to catch and reinforce Junco for checking in with me. Given how interesting the environment is (lake!) I would likely see less attention to me, instead of of more. If you want an attentive adult dog, be sure to build a reinforcment history for attentive behavior from day 1!