Compass Canine - Sara Seymour

08/08/2025

This is a really important read, for a couple of reasons. Firstly to raise awareness of this condition, but mainly to highlight how we need to advocate for our dogs. Too often, pain is overlooked as the key contributing factor in behavioural issues 😥 Sarah Hedderly - DingBatt Dog Training was persistent in seeking a solution, knowing that Sparkles was in pain. I'm so happy she found a solution 💕

Helping Border Collie owners transform their dogs to be the best trained dog in the park through breed specific training.

06/08/2025

FINALLY! The online version of Scentwork: Step By Step is available! It's only taken me four years...

It’s packed with:

🐾 6 bite-sized modules and 40+ lessons
🐾 A mix of written and video content
🐾 Simple, practical games you can do at home

You’ll build focus, connection and calm, without needing fancy kit or a huge time commitment.

Join before 12th August and you’ll also get monthly support calls for the first six months!

If you’ve been wondering how to help your dog chill out, this might be the missing piece.

Click to take a look and get started 👉 https://yes.compasscanhelp.com/scentwork-sbs

27/07/2025

This was my favourite course from today - turned out to be quite the crowd pleaser, with SO many choices. I'm not sure any two teams picked the same route 😂 Also, I finally got around to making a briefing sign 😁

NOTE - I've done my best to get the angles/distances roughly right, but it's probably not perfect 🙄

21/07/2025

Some reflections from this weekend's agility judging...

I think the biggest takeaway for most teams was that just because your dog can do a tyre in motion, doesn't mean they can do it from a static start! WAY too many people set their dogs up too close - there was plenty of space to give them room to get a stride in before take off, and most dogs needed that 🤷‍♀️

Never forget that all jumps have two wings - just because one way may be shorter than the other, doesn't make it the 'right' way.

Connect! Trying to get ahead is all well and good, but your dog still needs to know where they're going next 😉

Course times... I happened to read the ALC minutes on Thursday, so was aware that there was a new matrix and was able to get it printed. In the higer grades, the difference between old and new was about 3 seconds, in the lower grades is was as much as 10s. That was quite interesting. In terms of the results for my classes, there weren't all that many teams with time faults, and in my view they almost inevitable (dog arguing at every obstacle, refusals causing delays, older/slower dog). Thinking about the large 3-5s in particular, the winner was a viszla and second place went to a golden with a refusal (so time wasted) - neither had time faults. Time faults cetainly didn't impact the results as much as tyre skills 😉

Course plans below (not exact, but close enough). Aside from the tyre, many faults were due to where dogs were coming out of tunnels vs. where their handlers expected them to be! Some very honest dogs out there, some very herdy collies 😂

I do love a rear cross...

20/07/2025

Your dog’s nose is powerful, and it might be the missing piece in your training toolbox.

If your dog struggles to settle, is constantly looking for ‘trouble’ to get into or generally ‘misbehaving’ then they may just be trying to tell you that their brain needs a job!

💡 Enter Connecting Through Scentwork; a free 5-day training event that will help turn your dog's natural sniffing skills into calm focus and joy. 

✅ 5 daily scentwork games games you can do at home
🎥 Live support with expert Q&As
🐶 Perfect for pet dogs of all breeds and ages
💬 Pop-up group for support and fun

Whether your dog is a sniffaholic or just needs a new outlet, you’ll love the difference scentwork makes!

Five days of engagement, joy, and sniffing fun.

📆 4th-8th Aug 2025

👉 Save your spot now (before you get sidetracked and forget 😉) It's FREE!

yes.compasscanhelp.com/cts-free

03/07/2025

I'm actually, finally getting my Scentwork: Step By Step course loaded. Blimey - it's jam packed!

Photo credit - Wendy Searle Photography

01/07/2025

I've undertaken a couple of agility judging appointments this year, with a couple more to go. And I've also got a number of weekends comepting under my belt. Here's the honest truth - at times it can be frustrating!

Being really petty, it can be frustrating to set a course with the intention that a certain route is taken to then see people do really random stuff 😂 However, that's not the reason for this post...

I'm getting increasingly frustrated with how 'errors' are dealt with by many handlers. For a start, more often than not the error is down to the handler, not the dog. That can be hard to swallow, but it's the truth. The dog is doing the best they can, in the situation they're in, with the skills they have.

Peak seemingly forgot what 'check check' meant this weekend - truth be told, I suspect my feet were pointing the wrong way 🤷‍♀️ That's on me, not him. Now, if I send him to the jump again WITHOUT CORRECTING MY FEET, chances are he's going to repeat the 'error'. How would it be fair to blame him? And yet, that's what I see in the ring. All. The. Time.

Here's the other thing - if you have to ask your dog to take a jump four times before they turn the correct way, what you've actually done is practised doing it 'wrong' three times before getting it 'right'. This can be especially frustrating if you haven't changed anything else in the picture.

Ripley taught me a LOT about dealing with errors, and not repeating things. Peak is a lot more forgiving, but if you've read my email newsletter this week you'll know he will still let me know when I've mucked up 😉 Luckily for me, last year I started working with Hélène Marie Lawler and actually became one of the coaches in her Optimal Arousal Blueprint program. Digging deep into her work really cemented what I already knew, and gave me the confidence to change my approach. Sometimes I still forget, because I'm only human after all 🙈 For the most part, we try to just keep going, no matter what 💞

Hélène has her popular Root Causes of Over Arousal workshop available at the moment, and I have my own special link for you (basically, if you go on to join her program, I may get some commission) I just watched the Q&A this morning, and it's GOLD! You get instant access when you sign up 👍

https://compasscanhelp.com/root-causes

Photo credit Rebecca Reed Photography

20/02/2025

Shhh... 🤫😱

19/02/2025

I have questions!

What days/dates are good for people in March for a Movement Puzzles session? This will be a follow on from previous sessions, and we'll be looking at introducing a new puzzle. Options are Mondays or Wednesdays (not 19th Mar)

Is anybody interested in learning some Lost Item Recovery? Mainly just for fun, but can be a useful skill too!

Either Rexon, or am up for suggestions on other venues!

For your viewing pleasure, Ripley and Peak doing their monthly Movement Puzzles challenge ( 😉)