Calling All My Lovelies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dog training

Born Barbara Kathleen Vera Blackburn on 9 May of 1910, Woodhouse grew up in Dublin. Her father was a college headmaster but died in 1919, so the family moved to Headington in Oxford. The young Woodhouse began looking after ponies and discovered a deep connection with them. She opened her own riding school in her early twenties, and taught ballroom dancing as well. She became a dog breeder and kept dog kennels from the 1930s until the early 60s. Her international fame though came late in life, earned with her energized TV personality and deft skill training dogs. She also trained a number of film animals, and was called upon if a film animal was struggling with its role.

P.G. Wodehouse created the fiction characters Jeeves and Wooster.
Quoted comment is by Lynn O'Shaughnessy in the "Los Angeles Times".

Answer: Agriculture

While a student (1926-1928) Woodhouse was apparently the only woman at Harper Adams Agricultural College in Shropshire, England, attending. She then opened a riding school, giving lessons in horse care and jumping. She was jumping and winning contests on horses since the age of thirteen and said all the teachers hated her because she "always smelled of horses". She married Allan Hill in 1934. Together they broke wild horses and trained them in Argentina until their divorce in about 1939.

Harper Adams Agricultural College was established in 1901. The question offered a hint for agriculture: which "field" of study. Or if you know Harper Adams specializes in agriculture.

Answer: Speaking foreign languages

An enjoyably straightforward and prolific author, Barbara Woodhouse wrote over 30 books, primarily about dogs and horse training, animal health care and solving animal behavioral problems. "No Bad Dogs, the Woodhouse Way" was a best-seller in 1982. She authored "Almost Human" and "How Your Dog Thinks" but also penned works on learning a foreign language--"Talking in Italian", "Talking in Spanish" and "Talking in French". They were marketed for housewives.

Some of her many titles include "Training Your Puppy", "Book of Ponies" and an autobiography titled "Just Barbara".

Answer: What's My Line?

In 1955 Barbara Woodhouse made her first dog-training film, "Love Me, Love My Dog". It featured Juno, the Great Dane and was shown in theaters around England. She appeared on "What's My Line?" where she stumped contestants as to her line of work, and made a record album in 1967 with advance sales of 25,000.

She sent the BBC a letter saying she'd received so many letters asking her to do a dog training show, they should do it. In 1980 they did. It propelled Mrs. Woodhouse to international celebrity status, and made "walkies"--her command for heel or walk--a household word.

She's also known for "leave it" and "wait". In 1982 Woodhouse was voted the nation's favorite lady on TV. She's also been spoofed and mocked on media a fair bit.

Answer: Dominant leader

Barbara Woodhouse taught thousands of dogs using a "dominance" approach, quickly establishing herself in charge. She felt that most dog owners indulge, punish or cause emotional problems in their dogs, so she provided a set of simple, consistent commands for "talking dog'.

She stressed kindness and respectful listening, too. Woodhouse said "love is the main and most powerful reward". A similar approach was used by German and US military to train dogs in WWI and WWII: Lead, respect the dog, love the dog.

This method is still criticized by those who use a "positive reinforcement" method, which in turn is criticized for harsh verbal intimidation and replacing love with food as a reward. It seems we don't yet have an effective, humane method we can all agree upon.

Answer: William Shatner

In 1981 Barbara Woodhouse taped her show in Beverly Hills, helping the stars solve doggy problems. Zsa Zsa Gabor had a nervous pooch; David Soul's dog kept jumping into the pool; and she called upon William Shatner's two Doberman's to "lie down". She worked with Dorothy Lamour, Stefanie Powers and even trained a cat for Britt Ekland. Woodhouse often said that people try to take over the lessons and tell her what they know; but she doesn't allow that because it's the pet owner who needs the lessons.

She reprimanded Shatner for using the words "stern" and "discipline". She had his dog lying down in seconds. "You see how gentle that is?" she asked Shatner. He stood there on film silenced, his mouth hanging open. Who talks to Captain Kirk like THAT? But then he smiled and gave her a big bear hug.

Answer: Cows

During WWII Barbara kept Guernsey cows in the gardens of her neighbors as she didn't have a cow shed, and she fed all the babies in the town with the milk. Later she had a farm and kept cows for over twenty years. She was never able to go on vacation, she said, because her cows were hand milked. Determined to vacation, she decided to take the necessary cows with her via train to the seashore. "It was great fun. One of them had a calf and they played on the beach", she said.

She also put a saddle on her older cows and took them riding. "Why shouldn't they see the countryside?" She taught the public that cows are excellent jumpers. "Much better than horses".

Answer: Calling on the phone

Woodhouse was asked to call dogs on the telephone from England to both South Africa and later Australia, to see if dogs receiving the call would obey. In both events the dogs immediately did exactly as Woodhouse asked. Over and over in classes students witnessed a "bad" dog look adoringly at Barbara and obey her commands within minutes of their meeting. Woodhouse liked to say she "hoped" upon meeting a new dog she could train it in basic obedience "within six minutes". Woodhouse made the "Guinness Book of World Records" for most dogs trained, over 20,000.

As for horses, she was able to stand at a distance and call a horse, telling it to "walk on", and it walked. She said it was not magic, it was love, a little telepathy, and tone of voice.

Answer: Choke collar

The authoritative-yet-kind style of training advocated by Barbara Woodhouse was to establish who is in charge. There was controversy over her use of choke chains and "jerking" in the Woodhouse method, and a belief that "reinforcements" such as giving treats and withholding affection was better. Woodhouse felt food rewards and praise spoiled an animal. Cesar Millan the "Dog Whisperer" operates on the Woodhouse Method. Yet studies between 2009 and 2018 concluded that asserting dominance and shouting or jerking caused anxiety, stress, and sometimes aggression in dogs. Perhaps it is a case of mere mortals unable to reproduce the "leader plus love" abilities of the amazing Woodhouse.

She never had to intimidate or force an animal. They happily followed her calling.

Answer: Stroke

A cerebrovascular accident is the medical name for a stroke. In this condition either oxygen fails to flow, or an artery ruptures in the brain. In 1984 Woodhouse was partially paralyzed by a stroke. In July, 1988 at age 78 the world lost quite the colorful, astounding and multi-talented woman, though her legacy lives on.

She was survived by her second husband Dr. Michael Woodhouse whom she met at one of her dancing lessons. They married in 1940 and had three children. Said her daughter Judith Walpole, "She didn't suffer fools too gladly" yet she was always about compassionate and deeper human-animal connection.