I remember mom taking one of our dogs through obedience training like that. Supposedly he got to the point you could leave him in the middle of a busy mall and he would stay right there until you came back to get him. That was the theory anyway, I'm not sure if they ever tried it.

We're quite content if Niko will just sit at the edge of the kitchen and not pace back and forth through it while we are trying to cook. :P