A dog photographer who captures hilarious pictures of pooches trying to catch cubes of cheese has raised nearly £30,000 for charity.
Carolyne Cowan, 58, started running Catchathon® events in 2019 and has raised £28,500 for dog breed rescue charities.
Her husband Alasdair prepares for the events by cutting up a whopping 10kg of cheese and throws chunks at the dogs for them to catch while Carolyne snaps away.
She spends 15 minutes photographing each dog and can take up to 50 pictures during that time.
‘We always find the Catchathon® funny,’ said Carolyne
‘Every photo I chose to edit makes me smile or laugh out loud.
‘It is really hard work doing the Catchathon® events but the dogs are hilarious trying to catch the cheese.
‘Each dog is allocated 15 minutes, this is to allow for the maximum amount of dogs in one day, which is usually 40.
‘I will take anything between 30 – 50 shots.
‘Alasdair is an expert at cutting the 10kg of mild cheese into different sizes of cubes. we need them of varying sizes because we couldn’t throw a Great Dane sized piece at a Chihuahua.
Carolyne said sometimes it can take a while for the shy dogs to get to grips with the camera – but they all come around for the cheese in the end.
‘I would say Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Labradors, Border Collies and Boxers seem to be in the lead for being excellent cheese catchers,’ she said.
‘There are no hard breeds to photograph, apart from dogs who lack in confidence which means we have to spend a little longer getting them used to the lights, flash and being thrown cheese.
‘But they always come around – the thought of the cheese overcomes everything else.
‘The owner’s reactions are always good.
‘The laughter is amazing and everyone leaves with a huge smile, having had a great experience.
Carolyne started Carrie Southerton Dog Photography in 2015 after she retired from showing dogs and has a seven acre studio outside Falkirk.
Carolyne and Alasdair, are well known in the dog world, owning a top show kennel – Haughmill Kennels – and having bred and exhibited for more than 40 years.
Since 2019 Carolyne has held 17 Catchathon® raising money for German Shepherd Rescue, Phoenix French Bulldog Rescue, Beagle Welfare, Thistle Boxer Rescue, Golden Retriever Rescue of Scotland, BRAVEHOUND, Springer Rescue for Scotland, Old English Sheepdog Rescue, Doberman Rescue and Staffy Smiles Rescue.
‘I started the Catchathon® in October 2019,’ Carolyne said.
‘I wanted to attempt a cheese catching marathon but didn’t know how to hone the idea.
‘Then it struck me that we used to be the Scottish Officers for Beagle Welfare back in the 90’s and if we didn’t fundraise or get donations then it came out of our own pocket.
‘I then decided we would run events to raise funds for Breed Rescues and the name was derived from ‘catching marathon’ hence Catchathon®.
‘Since we started the events, of which there have been 17, we have raised nearly £28,500 and rising.’
Carolyne said her and Alasdair are ‘so appreciative’ of the support given by all the owners and the hundreds of Catchathon® Champions over the years for helping to fundraise for Breed Rescues.
The next event is on 19 August. Spaces are still available. Visit www.carriesoutherton.co.uk to find out more.
Read more news on Scottish Field’s news pages.
Plus, don’t miss the July issue of Scottish Field magazine.
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