Barbara Woodhouse


Barbara Kathleen Vera Woodhouse was a dog trainer, author, horse trainer and television personality. Her 1980 television series Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way made her a household name in the UK. Among her catch-phrases were "walkies" and "sit!", the latter parodied in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy. She was also known for her "no bad dogs" philosophy.

Life

Barbara Blackburn was born 9 May 1910 in St Columba's College in Rathfarnham, County Dublin, Ireland, to an Irish family. She grew up there until her father, the Warden of the school, died suddenly in 1919. As described in her autobiography, the family moved to Brighton a few weeks later, and afterwards to Headington in Oxford, where Woodhouse attended Headington School. She was later 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 Hill, 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. She first appeared on television as a contestant on What's My Line, where panelists failed to identify her occupation. She also appeared on CBS 60 Minutes. Her 1980 BBC series made her into a television personality at the age of 70, and she appeared regularly on British TV up until her death in 1988.
She married Dr Michael Woodhouse in 1940 and moved to Wiltshire. They had three children, Pamela, Patrick and Judith. She died on 9 July 1988 after a stroke, aged 78.
Her many books included her autobiography, Talking to Animals, and No Bad Dogs.

Television series