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Barbara Woodhouse

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UK animal trainer and TV personality, 1910–1988

Barbara Woodhouse
Woodhouse on the cover of her book No Bad Dogs The Woodhouse Way. The book title reflects her no bad dogs motto
BornBarbara Kathleen Vera Blackburn
(1910-05-09)9 May 1910
Rathfarnham, Ireland
Died9 July 1988(1988-07-09) (aged 78)
Buckinghamshire, England
Alma materHarper Adams University
OccupationDog trainer
Years active1951–1988
Spouses
Allan George Mill ​ ​(m. 1934⁠–⁠1937)​
Michael Woodhouse ​ ​(m. 1940⁠–⁠1988)​
Children3

Barbara Kathleen Vera Woodhouse (née Blackburn; 9 May 1910 Rathfarnham, Ireland – 9 July 1988, Buckinghamshire, England) 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.

Life

Barbara Blackburn was born on 9 May 1910 at St Columba's College in Rathfarnham, County Dublin, Ireland, to an Irish family. 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. In 1926, she 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 genetic problems:

Some people get dogs they don't deserve; hereditary faults play havoc with some dogs, and the poor owner can do nothing. I think if the faults are too great, it is kinder to put a bad dog to sleep after training and possibly veterinary advice have failed.

Woodhouse died in July 1988 after suffering from a stroke.

Television series

Publications

References

  1. ^ "Woodhouse , Barbara Kathleen Vera (1910–1988)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/65438. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 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.
  3. Barbara Woodhouse (1982). No Bad Dogs: The Woodhouse Way. Summit Books. p. 46. ISBN 978-0671449629.
  4. "Barbara Woodhouse, Dog Trainer Who Became TV Celebrity, at 78". The New York Times. 10 July 1988. (subscription required)
  5. Trove – National Library of Australia

External links

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