Walkies

I am finding that a good percentage of my cultural references in class have become fossilized and no longer result in the faintest trace of recognition, much less the faintest trace of a discernible smile. “All we want are the facts, Ma’am,” “Treats Are Consequences,” “Patience, young Grasshopper,” all mean nothing to most people today (1) (2) (3). Throughout all history, the very present that humans live in is considered the ultimate in au courant, such as it may be or have been. “The 1980s are (is) a decade that we frequently resort to whenever it relates to glitter and fashion freedom. The decade, characterized by eye-straining fabric colors and patterns, acid wash jeans, shoulder pads, massive, dramatic earrings, pearls, and big hair, had people confidently expressing themselves with their Style” (4). Sheena Easton introduced “Modern Girl” in 1980 (5). The first Banana Slug Festival was held in Guerneville CA in 1980 (6). Yes, indeed, even the 1980’s was considered pretty cool at the time.

We are speaking of an era without Facebook, a time without YouTube, there was no information highway. The internet was still a twinkle in Al Gore’s eye (7). We are talking BC- Before Cesar, prior to Victoria Stilwell, pre Zak George. In 1981, I was a bit younger and taking my second dog to obedience classes. Ian Dunbar introduced the first puppy socialization classes in 1982 (8). Karen Pryor’s book, Don’t Shoot The Dog, was published in 1984 (9). More positive training techniques were surfacing and beginning to become popular. What was going on in the dog training world in the earlier 1980’s? Let’s take another journey in Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine to experience one more glimpse of Improbable History (10).

This time we journey to the very beginning of the 80’s decade and meet the first internationally famed dog trainer, Barbara Woodhouse (11). Today, if I mention the name Barbara Woodhouse and her iconic “Walkies,” I will be met with the same blank expression resulting from the above cultural references. But Barbara Woodhouse was the first international dog trainer celebrity. She was immensely popular and won the favorite British female television personality in 1980. And if the 80’s was a time of confident expression, there was no one more confident or uniquely expressive than Barbara. Her mode of dress was prim for those times . She was always in a skirt, with sensible shoes and a “lady collar.” She had a personality and a Style uniquely her own. See for yourself as the Wayback Machine deposits us to observe Barbara conducting one of her classes (12).

It was at the age of 70 that Barbara Woodhouse became an international celebrity (13). She was well known in Britain and had published a number of books, including Dog Training My Way (copyright 1970) and No Bad Dogs (copyright 1978). She claimed an affinity with animals from an early age. She trained horses in Argentina for more than three years and spoke affectionately about past days with her beloved cows, a number of whom she once took seaside on holiday and upon whom she enjoyed riding about the countryside (14). It was in 1980 that the BBC introduced a ten episode television series entitled “Training Dogs The Woodhouse Way” that secured her celebrity status (15)

In 1981, Mrs. Woodhouse is introduced in “Barbara Woodhouse Goes to Beverly Hills” as she is chauffeured about Tinseltown in an impossibly fancy car (16). She proceeds to be filmed training the dogs of celebrities. Perhaps the only star that may be recognizable from so long ago is the young Captain Kirk, William Shatner, who has since voyaged from the early eighties into 2025. Other celebrities included Dorothy Lamour, Britt Ekland, Stephanie Powers, Lorne Green, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Tippi Hedren. Some of the most interesting people hobnobbing with Barbara in this documentary are even more obscure but very notable. Ray Berwick was the bird wrangler who worked on the set of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” with Tippi Hedren. His backstory is intriguing (17). There is also Sherlock Bones, who tracks down missing dogs, a doggie astrologer, an animal psychic and Glen Randall Sr. who worked with Roy Rogers’ horse Trigger, three horses named Champion for Gene Autry and “The Black Stallion” (18) (19). This incursion of the British celebrity onto American soil is certainly entertaining, even if most everyone involved is now long forgotten.

The two books mentioned above may be of note to a trainer interested in the history of dog training. The techniques used to Sit and Down dogs in the books and in the videos rely heavily on molding or physically placing the dogs in the desired positions (20). Barbara is especially adept at a ju-jitsu-like takedown where she lifts up one front leg while applying pressure on the opposite shoulder (21). The books are a mixture of good and not so very good advice. On the R+ side she does stress the importance of starting puppy training early. “To break him of habits formed when young is far more tiresome than training him in the right way at first.” (22). She recommends socializing a dog, “to make a dog reliable, it should be taken into towns and crowds, shops and parks, and wherever you live…” (23). Another good concept she stressed was to have fun with your dog. “We all love fun. And training a dog should be fun. For the owner and for the dog, too.'' (24). All very good messages.

On the other hand there was a dark side to Barbara Woodhouse. She was a firm believer in the use of “kind” choke chains. “When I get a nervous dog that won’t be handled by strangers or a judge, the first thing I do is put a choke chain on it.” (25). Somehow, confidence in a nervous dog is instilled with firm jerks on the leash. “Give strength to it by your own forceful happiness and strength of purpose.” (26). It really needn’t be said but it is probably not a good idea to teach your dog to guard your car as Barbara suggests (27). If you are working on the Down command and the dog bites it may be best to change techniques or seek the advice of a trainer rather than using “thick leather gloves” and an overcoat, “secure in the knowledge that the dog cannot hurt you.” (28). “And retaliate with two or three jerks on the choke chain.” Of course! The “cure” for a slayer of chickens will require “slaughtering another chicken, but it is worth it.” (29). Did I really read that]? Let’s not begin to go there. “An animal must always have a boss to love and respect.” “Correct it firmly on a choke chain for a few minutes, thereby making it understand who is boss.” (30). Very dark, indeed.

There were two episodes of “Barbara’s Problem Dogs” in 1982. In the first episode we see Barbara arriving at a client’s home much like one of today’s celebrity trainers, another no nonsense Brit, Victoria Stilwell, in “It’s Me Or The Dog” (31). In fact, Barbara once worked with a couple and the husband gave his wife an ultimatum. “Get rid of that dog or I go.” “That is easily answered,” said the wife, “go.” (32). Not everyone will want to rehome a husband. At any rate, as you watch the two episodes, form your own opinion about Barbara’s methods of problem solving (33) (34). How effective were her solutions? Were the problems truly solved? Was there really a problem to begin with? Can dogs be diagnosed as schizophrenic? What, if anything, would you have done differently

The book, Talking To Animals, was copyrighted in 1970 and was much more an autobiography than a how to communicate with critters primer. This book was very engaging and followed the earlier days of her life and developing renown. Her trajectory to celebrity was not an easy ascent. Earlier on Barbara ran a riding school and a boarding kennel for dogs. The August holiday was two weeks in length. She tells a story about the boarding kennel she ran for three years where she once sent home her charges after the holiday. The next day, looking out her window, she discovered 23 dogs had left their homes and were gathered patiently outside, waiting for her. One dog came trotting back to the kennels three days in a row from 20 some miles distant (35). Club Dog Bound, that one was

She spent more than three years in “the Argentine,” eventually “breaking” or rather taming, horses. She set out on a month’s voyage on a cargo boat. The journey was not at all pleasant (36). Life on the “estancias” possessed nowhere near the comforts as Barbara was accustomed but she persevered and eventually was well known for her skills at working horses. She was taken aback at the unkind treatment the horse clan received in general. “For a lover of horses the Argentine is the saddest place to live, for these most intelligent and willing animals are never treated as they should be.” “I learnt to speak fluent Spanish more quickly than usual because of my rage.” (37). Eventually, Barbara won true respect for her kinder and gentler handling. This was no small accomplishment for a woman in an extremely macho environment. In fact, Barbara Woodhouse may have literally been an original Gringa horse whisperer. In her own words, “I never spoke to them above a whisper.” (38).

Cows were always of great importance in Mrs Woodhouse’s life. To embellish on her trip to the seaside mentioned earlier, there were three cows and two calves in addition to furniture (the vacation destination was unfurnished) and two domestic helpers in armchairs, loaded onto a large cattle transport. Mrs. Woodhouse, her husband and two, perhaps three. very young children, followed by motor car. During World War 2, England strictly rationed petrol and a large number of foods. Milk was rationed to three pints per week for adults in 1942 (39). Barbara provided TT milk (tuberculin tested), throughout the war at a less than maximum price. One of her cows, Snow Queen, appeared in films. In one, she was trained not to move as a car rapidly approached and braked immediately in front of her. A bit of treacle on the “headlamps” did the trick. In another film, an episode of Douglas Fairbanks Presents, entitled “The Charm,” Snow Queen becomes quite enamoured of the protagonist when a hair from her tail is substituted for a hair from the head of the intended human love interest (40). One last note on cows. As mentioned, Barbara was fond of riding cows about the countryside. I am sure she would take umbrage at the AI Overview statement, “Riding cows is not a popular or widely practiced activity.” Here is a short video of someone who would agree with the potential for “talking” to the cows (41).

Telepathy is mentioned throughout Mrs. Woodhouse’s work. To her it was a gift that could possibly be achieved by others. It is developed by love, intonation and a lack of fear in human or animal. I do not claim to actually know what telepathy is but have had great working relationships with a number of dogs that have seemed what I considered almost telepathic .But these affinities were developed over time. It can be that you have been together so long and you know enough of each other to anticipate what comes next. But I sure cannot claim to be able to housebreak a dog in two hours or to teach a dog everything it needs to know in five minutes as Barbara Woodhouse claims she could. There were some incidents that made her telepathy questionable at best. First is this appearance on a television show (42). Secondly, is a quote from her book, No Bad Dogs (43). “Some dogs yelp when corrected when not in any way hurt. I proved this to one dog owner by kissing her dog, which yelped in exactly the same way as it did when corrected. I didn’t think my kiss was that lethal!” Once Barbara overheard a woman on the street tell her dog, “If you don’t behave I shall take you to Mrs. Woodhouse.” (44). Thirdly, it seems that if dogs were truly telepathic and could read Barbara’s mind and understood what message a “kind” choke was about to deliver with “forceful happiness,” they would comply automatically. There could not possibly be a single bad dog. Captain Kirk did not ever have to deal with the Borg, if my history is correct. But Barbara’s students sure knew the equivalent of “you will be assimilated” and “resistance is futile” (45).

So what can we take away from this journey to the past before Mr. Peabody returns us to the present in his Wayback Machine. I went back to the Eighties with what I thought was an open mind. But it is difficult not to judge Barbara Woodhouse’s constant use of her “kind” choke chain and being such a bossy boss. She was quite overwhelming. To be honest, though, I can think of a couple human bosses I would have liked to cure of arbitrary “bossiness” with a ”kind” choke chain. It is one thing to read about “kind” choke chains and quite another to see her in action (46). Some of her ideas were very good. She seemed to treat dogs differently than horses and cows. There was not a lot of detail in her training books and I would not consider adding them to the reading list for my classes. Her autobiographical book, Talking To Animals, was quite appealing and enjoyable. This book, I would recommend reading and I would also highly recommend watching both episodes of Barbara Woodhouse Goes To Beverly Hills. She was quite entertaining.

Was it worth going back to the 80’s? If I recall the 80’s personally, it was generally a challenging but good stretch of time. Was it a simpler time in retrospect? Probably not. It is difficult to truly remember details of times so long gone. I did get married in 1983. Moved back to California from Illinois in 1988. Started training dogs for a living at the end of 1989. There were a lot of hurdles and exciting things going on. The decade of the 80’s was the au courant du jour. I do remember shoulder pads, lots of color and that some of the big hair was in good taste. Time now to exit the world of Barbara Woodhouse and her seemingly forgotten snippet of Improbable History to return to the present perplexing Second Gilded Age (47).

(1).Just the Facts, Ma'am

(2). Truth or Consequences - Wikipedia

(3). Where does that phrase 'patience young grasshopper' originate? - Quora

(4). How To Dress in 80s Style: What Was the 80's Fashion for Women?