Barbara Woodhouse

Barbara Kathleen Vera Woodhouse (née Blackburn; May 9, 1910 – 9 July 9, 1988) was an Irish-born British dog trainer, author, horse trainer and television personality. Her 1980 television series '' Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way'' made her a household name. Among her catch phrases were " walkies" and "sit!" She was also known for her "no bad dogs" philosophy.Crazy for Critters
"In 1996, I interviewed Brian Kilcommons, dog trainer to the stars and the American protégé of the late British trainer Barbara Woodhouse, known for her "no bad dogs" philosophy and "Walkies!" rallying cry." The Woodhouse references to "no bad dogs" meant they had nothing wrong with them but incompetent owners.

Life

Woodhouse was born on 9 May 1910 at St Columba's College in Rathfarnham, County Dublin, Ireland. She grew up there until her father, the warden (headmaster) of the school, died suddenly in 1919. As described in her autobiography, the family moved to Brighton, England, a few weeks later, and afterwards to Headington in Oxford, where Woodhouse attended Headington School. She later became the only female student at the Harper Adams Agricultural College in Shropshire.

After returning to Oxford to start Headington Riding School and Boarding Kennels, she married her first husband, Allan George Mill, in August 1934 and moved with him to spend more than three years in Argentina training horses. The marriage ended in divorce and she returned to Headington.

In the 1930s, Barbara became a dog breeder and ran kennels until about 1960. Meanwhile she married a second husband, Michael Woodhouse, in 1940 and moved to Wiltshire and had three children, Pamela, Patrick and Judith. She first appeared on television as a contestant on ''What's My Line'', where panellists failed to guess her occupation. She also appeared on CBS '' 60 Minutes''. Her 1980 BBC series made her a television personality at the age of 70. She continued to appear on television regularly until she died on 9 July 1988 at the age of 78.

Woodhouse's autobiographical books include ''Talking to Animals'' and ''No Bad Dogs''. She firmly believed there were "no bad dogs", just bad owners and defined it to mean dogs without any genetic problems:

Woodhouse died in July 1988 after suffering from a stroke.

Television series

*'' Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way''
*''Barbara Woodhouse's World of Horses and Ponies''
*''Barbara's Problem Dogs''

Publications

*''Almost Human'' (1976)
*''Barbara's World of Horses and Ponies: Their Care and Training the Woodhouse Way'' (1984)
*''Barbara Woodhouse on How to Train Your Puppy''
*''Barbara Woodhouse on How Your Dog Thinks''
*''Barbara Woodhouse on Training Your Dog''
*''Book of Ponies'' (1981)
*''Difficult Dogs'' (1957)
*''Dog Training My Way'' (1954)
*''Encyclopedia of Dogs and Puppies'' (1978)
*''Just Barbara: My Story'' (1986)
*''No Bad Dogs: The Woodhouse Way'' (1982)
*''No bad dogs and know your dog'' (1978)
*''Talking to Animals'' (autobiography, 1954)Stephen Follows, "Woodhouse , Barbara Kathleen Vera (1910–1988)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004
Retrieved 9 May 2017.
/ref>
*''The A-To-Z of Dogs and Puppies'' (1972)
*''Walkies: Dog Training and Care the Woodhouse Way'' (1983)
*''The Complete Woodhouse Guide to Dog Training'' (1990)

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodhouse, Barbara
1910 births
1988 deaths
People educated at Headington School
People from Rathfarnham
British television presenters
Dog trainers
British horse trainers
Alumni of Harper Adams University
20th-century British zoologists