The book is half my personal testimony and half how I train humans to communicate with dogs.
After my shooting in 2000 as an officer survival instructor I did my best to learn from what happened and develop training around the reality of interpersonal violence instead of fantasy. What I thought was great training had prepared me for the shooting like driving on the highway would prepare you for driving NASCAR with cross streets. This led to the development of Modern Combative Systems which was designed to fully integrate open hand combatives, impact weapons, edged weapons, and firearms into a system for fighting within an area the size of a parking space. The reason I bring this up is because I used the same theory and mindset, I used to develop Focus Based Canine Training.
With fighting or dog handling the first thing that needs to be taken into account is the human response to stress. For example, when confronted by another person one of our first responses is to bring our hands up in front of our chest and head to protect our most vital areas. This is hard wired into us, so even when an armed person is confronted, they will reflexively bring both hands up instead of going for their gun. When people hold a dog lead, they either put their hand through the loop on the leash or worse wrap it around their hand, this is done intuitively in response to knowing that the dog will pull on the other end. The belief is that this will allow them to control the dog. The foundational issue with this practice is that making a fist is the preparatory movement needed to bend your arm. So, as you sit reading this try quickly bending your arm without first making a fist or at least closing your hand. It’s not natural. So, when you walk a dog on a regular collar or harness, and they pull on the lead you reflexively bend your arm with up and back pressure on the dog which mentally and physically excites them while encouraging them to pull forward as hard as they can. Whenever you see someone walking a dog, look at their arm to see if it is tense or relaxed. About 95% of the time, you will see a bent arm trying to control a pulling dog. Sadly, most people’s arms stay bent even when the dog is standing calmly right next to them. It’s the same thing with people all the time, as you are reading this, are you relaxed? You are probably holding tension in your back or neck muscles. Just see if you can relax them and see what I am talking about. Dogs are just like people in that they don’t want to be around a nervous, anxious person so they avoid eye contact and move away. A calm, confident person draws dog and man alike. If without any justification you cannot control yourself enough to relax your arm, how are you supposed to be the higher-ranking dog your dog needs? We avoid the unpleasant, stressful, and chaotic things with our eyes and choose instead to focus on the things that are pleasant, calm, and orderly. When this becomes your way of being your life will change. Tension on the leash goes two ways, the goal is to immediately recognize the slightest tension on either end and immediately correct it back to a loose leash. Once back to the loose leash you can identify what caused it and do better next time. This Silent Loose Lead walk in which I walk a dog of any size on one finger is what the Lord has used to heal my PTSD. For 15-20 minutes at a time your only focus is to breathe and ensure that the only time you put tension on the lead is to correct the dog gently, consistently, and lovingly. No matter what distractions you face your dog learns not to react but rather to focus on you, just as we should focus on the Lord no matter what life throws at us.