On the videos in "Focused Heeling" the dogs are trained to hold a stay the following way: the handler only goes in circles or parts of circles around them and comes back each time, when we has said
his duration marker

A) Is this necessary to come back each time after a "good" or whatever our duration marker is? Am I doing something wrong if I come back in front of them only to give the release
command?

B) Does all this proofing has to happen in circles? Why can I not chose other ways, walk away from them further, in different directions etc. (Of course provided the dog holds the stay)? I make them wait much longer than two or three circles and go silently in various directions. I don't any more give any duration markers
while they have to hold the stay. But of course I always come back in front of them, when I release and then make a little reward event.

I "think" the idea of doing the circles is to keep from adding distance at this time in the training.

Obviously once the dog is solid at this then you can start moving away from the dog.

Of course when you add that distance you go back to shorter duration.

Also I don't give the dog a release every time I come back and stop in front of OR if I stop in heel position. That avoids anticipation of the next move on the part of the dog.

I'm not sure what section you are referencing(chapter?) but here's some thoughts on why you want to keep using that duration marker.

Imagine your dog has a balance sheet in front of them with two columns on it. In Column A is all the times the dog has been rewarded IN the place they were left. In Column B is all the reinforcement offered AWAY from where they were asked to stay. The column with the larger balance is the one your dog is going to tend to desire to go towards regardless of what the training is actually requiring them to do.

Dogs that are heavily reinforced with many many duration markers followed by a reward in the place they are left(Column A) are going to LOVE staying in the place they were left. They are squarely in the middle of the reinforcement zone and they know it! Dogs that are consistently rewarded on/with the release(Column B) know that their reinforcement zone is not where they currently are. Training may hold them in the position you left them but they are constantly thinking about "where's my release?! where do I have to go to get my reward?!?" rather than the dog who knows that they are squarely in the reinforcement zone who is happily just waiting for the next reward to come to them. Both dogs may end up looking the same because of training but one dog is extremely happy to be where they are while the other dog is straining for the release.

When a client follows my instructions of many many duration markers and rewarding the dog in place their dog gets "sticky". They WANT to stay exactly where they were left.

Bob Bob thanks. Yes, that's the way how I am doing it. I also do not release each time, when I go in front of them. I go to them and sometimes take some quick step backwards as I normally do after having given the release command, but then I don't say a single word
and expect from the dog that he stays on his spot. Or I produce some other distractions in order to proof.

What I did wrong was, that I didn't shorten duration when I added distance. I increased both together. I will be aware of this from now on. Fortunately they despite of this didn't break the stay. Thanks for reminding me, I really should have thought about this.

As for the course, if I understand you right, this is just meant for training the dogs at this level, but going in circles is not a compulsory thing forever.

Hi Cathy,I am referring to Module 4 (Focus and Proofing), Segment 1, Sit - Stay - Proof.

You say: "Dogs that are heavily reinforced with many many duration markers followed by a reward in the place they are left(Column A) are going to LOVE staying in the place they were left."

This sounds very plausible to me and I will go back to this level, as I believe this will strenghthen there stay. Although they have already a nice sit, down and stand stay, it can be very helpful to make them more solid. It will not hinder me to add gradually more distance or duration.

The release I do I think is ok, as I always go back to them where I left them, either in front or heel position. And after the release mark I always reward following Bobs reminder (random) and also make an event out of it, as I have learnd it from Forrest.

The duration rewards I probably left out too often and underestimated the value of them. Great reminder! I do want my dogs to get "sticky".

Thanks a lot, Cathy!