Just Barbara

by Barbara Woodhouse

The biography of Barbara Woodhouse who shot to fame in the 1980s with her TV series Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1981

About the author

Barbara Kathleen Vera Woodhouse, 9 May 1910 Rathfarnham, Ireland - 9 July 1988, Buckinghamshire, England, after a stroke, was a well known British dog trainer, author and television personality. Her 1980 television series Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way made her into 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".

Reviews

[Stephanie Pieck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barbara Woodhouse was born in Ireland in 1910. During her remarkable life, she trained horses and dogs, wrote films and books, hosted classes where she taught people to ride horses or manage their dogs, and ran a publicing company. She loved Great Danes and had two who became well-known for their appearances on TV, in movies, and at events of all sorts. Generous, practical, and compassionate without being sentimental, Woodhouse helped hundreds of thousands of people understand their pets better. Her memoir is a panorama of the changes that swept the world during the twentieth century, and her refusal to give into changes in taste or expectations of manners are refreshing. This was a delightful and informative book.