She rose to fame in 1980, thanks to her popular series, Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way, after she self-promoted her often unorthodox training methods by writing a letter to the BBC.
Woodhouse, already a successful author and documentary-maker, told bosses at the BBC it was high-time they had a dog-training show, instead of all the sheepdog trials they broadcast continually!
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Her perseverance paid off, as she was soon presenting her own prime-time television show, filmed at her Hertfordshire home, which was a massive hit for the BBC and was syndicated internationally.
Despite her quirky manner, she was ahead of her time in many ways, as she was a firm believer in the philosophy, "There are no bad dogs, only bad owners" - a belief which is popular today in the 21st century.
Early life
Born Barbara Blackburn, in May 1910, in Rathfarnham, Ireland, she spent her early childhood in Dublin. Her mother, Leilah, ran a dog boarding kennels, so Barbara grew up around dogs, developing an affinity with them that lasted her whole life. She learned she could stop them from barking by talking quietly to them, rather than shouting.
Her father, Rev, William Blackburn, was headmaster of St Columba's College, Rathfarnham. After his death in 1919, Barbara and her mother moved to Headington in Oxford. She attended Headington School and went on to become the only woman to attend Harper Adams Agricultural College in Shropshire - a traditionally male domain in her youth.
She married Allan Hill in 1934 and the couple moved to Argentina, where Barbara spent three years working at stables as a horse trainer - her other passion. However, her marriage ended in divorce and she moved back to Headington, beginning a new career running kennels and breeding dogs.
Breeders are often frowned upon in the 21st century, because of the scandal surrounding the horrific "puppy mills", where dogs have been mistreated and used as breeding machines to make money for unscrupulous owners.
However, in the 1930s, dog breeding was a respectable profession and Barbara was a great animal lover, pursuing her career based on her love of dogs.
Author
Barbara married her second husband, Dr Michael Woodhouse, in 1940 and the couple had three children; Pamela, Judith and Patrick. Barbara continued to run her kennels and also branched out into becoming a respected author. Her first dog training book, No Bad Dogs: Training Dogs My Way, was published in 1954 when she was 44 years old.
She also published her autobiography, Talking to Animals, the same year, in which she explained her innovative methods for dog training, including talking quietly to them, breathing into their nostrils, using different tones of voice and giving plenty of love and affection, rather than trying to rule them by fear.
She became known as quirky when she suggested that even telepathy played a part in understanding and training dogs.
In 1955, she made a short documentary on her dog training methods, Love Me, Love My Dog, featuring a Great Dane called Juno. It was shown in cinemas around the UK. She also released a record on dog training in 1967 and it had advance sales of 25,000.
Television series
Although a respected dog trainer and author, Barbara didn't rocket to international fame until 1980, when she became a household name, thanks to her TV series, Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way.
BBC producer Peter Riding had received a letter from Barbara, promoting herself as a dog trainer. She said, "I know you realise animal programmes are popular, because for the umpteenth time, you're showing sheepdog trials."
She added, "Dozens of people write to me and say, 'When are you going to have your own series on television training dogs?' and I feel you're missing out on something that would draw an enormous audience."
BBC bosses agreed there was a gap in their programming and took a gamble on giving Barbara her own dog training series. Earlier, she had appeared briefly on the TV panel show, What's My Line, in which celebrity panellists had to guess the occupation of members of the public. They had failed to guess that Barbara was a dog trainer.
She was someone who knew about her subject and was said to be the first ordinary person with a relevant background to front her own TV show, rather than being a presenter hired because they were famous. She was completely natural and didn't care whether the camera was there or not, as she behaved in her normal manner.
The series, produced by Peter Riding, was broadcast on BBC2 from 7th January 1980 and made Barbara a household name. She blamed bad behaviour among dogs on inadequate owners who didn't assert their position in the hierarchy of dog society.
Her approach is followed by other dog trainers, including Victoria Stilwell, who starred in the TV dog training show, It's Me or the Dog. Barbara was also an advocate for more humane cages to transport dogs in vehicles and was known for issuing abrupt commands to dog owners on her show and for her criticism of their behaviour on air. It was often said the owners looked more scared than their dogs.
Celebrity status
No one was more surprised than Barbara at the way the show took off. Her catchphrases of "Sit!" and "Walkies!" gained cult status and became embedded in popular culture.
In 1982, a spoof record, The Sit Song by the Barron Knights, dedicated to her catchphrases, was a quirky hit, while her stern "Sit!" was even parodied in the 1983 James Bond film, Octopussy!
Bond (Roger Moore) impersonated Barbara Woodhouse by putting his hand in a commanding posture and repeating her catchphrase to a tiger, as shown in the video clip at around the three minutes and 27 seconds mark. Miraculously, the animal responds to the command by obeying!
Her 10-episode first series was syndicated internationally and brought her fame in the United States too. It was shown on more than 100 TV stations in the US.
Following the success of her debut show, Barbara made two further series, Barbara Woodhouse's World of Horses and Ponies, and Barbara's Problem Dogs.
At the height of her fame, she received around 400 letters a day from fans and couldn't go out in public without being recognised. She even recalled the inspector on passport control at a London airport saying, "Here's the dog lady!" and quipping, "Walkies!"
Even so, Barbara was stunned when she was named as the British female TV personality of the year in 1980. She died aged 78 in 1988, following a stroke, but her legacy remains today in the shape of her innovative dog training methods and of course her famous personality and catchphrases.
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