Tony Richens-Smith

Tony Richens-Smith lives in Lancashire, UK with his family and writes as he speaks, in a strong Northern accent.

Tony has always been surrounded by dogs and is very passionate about sharing his knowledge. After leaving his original IT career in 2019 , he began to pursue his dream of being a dog behaviourist full-time (having run his business, Think Dog Positive since 2017). While he was brought up with “old school” training methods, Tony only advocates compassionate training methods, which are based in Science. He has a firm belief that education is essential for dogs and humans to live in harmony together, and his philosophy is based on the formation of positive connections with dogs, built using empathy, respect and by treating every dog as an individual. He does not advocate the use of any equipment or methods that cause pain or fear and only associates with professional organisations who promote force free techniques. Tony has a special attachment to rescue dogs and gives part of his valuable time to several rescue charities that are close to his heart.

Apart from dogs, his other great passion is Doctor Who - while he grew up with the third and fourth Doctors, his favourites are definitely "number two" and "number eleven". His is known to waffle on for hours (days even) about specific episodes and is known for his collection of bow ties ... which are very cool!