Duration Without Frustration, Extinction, or Guesswork
Most trainers learn duration the same way:
“Just wait a little longer before you click.”
But what if that’s exactly the problem?
If your dog starts offering random behaviors, breaking position, barking, fidgeting, or cycling through everything they know while you’re trying to build duration, the issue may not be duration at all.
It may be your training loop.
In this webinar, we’ll take a completely different look at duration training.
We’ll start by redefining what duration actually means and why so many common training approaches create confusion, frustration, and unwanted behavior. Then we’ll explore practical, errorless strategies that help dogs succeed without relying on extinction, negative punishment, or simply withholding reinforcement and hoping for the best.
What Makes This Webinar Different?
This webinar is based on a simple idea:
Errors come from the environment.
Instead of asking, “How can I get my dog to wait longer?”
We’ll ask:
- What antecedents are controlling the behavior?
- What does the training loop actually teach?
- Are we accidentally cueing repetition instead of duration?
- How can we arrange the environment so the correct response becomes easy?
You’ll learn how small changes in reinforcement delivery, loop structure, cue placement, and behavior chains can dramatically improve duration without creating frustration.
Topics we’ll cover
What Duration Really Is
- The difference between duration, distance, and repetition
- Why “more steps” isn’t necessarily duration
- Duration as an outcome rather than a shaping process
Clean Loops and Dirty Loops
- Why many duration problems begin in the training loop
- How reinforcement delivery affects behavior
- Recognizing cues that trigger unwanted repetitions
- When adding behavior to the loop actually improves duration
Stimulus Control and Antecedent Arrangement
- Why dogs often break position before the marker
- How to identify environmental triggers for errors
- Using antecedents to prevent mistakes before they happen
Delivery Patterns
- How food can become an unintended cue
- Building predictability without creating dependence
- Creating reinforcement patterns that support duration
Backchaining for Duration
- Why fluent chains can support waiting behavior
- Using clear beginnings and endings to create stability
- Practical examples from heelwork and sport training
Wait Cues
- When to use them
- When you don’t need them
- How to teach and fade them effectively
Common Duration Problems
- Dogs offering behaviors before cues
- Fidgeting, dancing feet, and position changes
- Confusion between shaping and duration work
- Why duration cannot fix behaviors that aren’t fluent yet
Who Is This Webinar For?
🐾 Sport dog trainers looking for precise, reliable duration behaviors
🐾 Pet dog caregivers who want calmer, clearer training sessions
🐾 Professional trainers interested in errorless learning and antecedent-based solutions
🐾 Anyone who has ever thought:
“My dog knows the behavior… so why can’t they hold it?”
You’ll Leave With
✔ A completely different perspective on duration training
✔ Practical strategies you can apply immediately
✔ A framework for troubleshooting duration problems
✔ Ways to build duration without relying on extinction procedures
✔ Greater clarity about shaping, stimulus control, and reinforcement delivery
Because duration shouldn’t feel like a battle of patience between you and your dog.
- It should be another skill we teach with clarity.
\What former students have to say:
“This webinar was life-changing. My dog went from offering random behaviors and getting frustrated… to actually holding duration! After the very first session using these methods, he was calmer, clearer, and finally making progress. I couldn’t be happier.”
- — Mônica T.