Use the dials, not the mouse. Once you have Figure 1 selected, go to that figure's BODY part and use the dials to translate it -X to the side, Y up and down and Z forwards and back. MUCH easier than using the mouse to grab an elusive circle. Half the time you get the floor or something else in the scene you never meant to grab :)

And it's not dopey at all. Poser is an odd duck and generally, the mouse isn't much of use in the posing window. Either you'll twist your people into pretzels or have a problem like the one you described here :)

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You just can't put the words "Poserites" and "happy" in the same sentence - didn't you know that? LaurieA
  Using Poser since 2002. Currently at Version 11.1 - Win 10.