A dog professional photographer who records amusing photos of pooches attempting to capture cubes of cheese has actually raised almost £30,000 for charity.
Carolyne Cowan, 58, began running Catchathon® occasions in 2019 and has actually raised £28,500 for dog breed rescue charities.
Her spouse Alasdair gets ready for the occasions by cutting up a massive 10kg of cheese and tosses pieces at the dogs for them to capture while Carolyne snaps away.
She invests 15 minutes photographing each dog and can use up to 50 images throughout that time.
‘We always find the Catchathon® funny,’ said Carolyne
‘Every image I picked to modify makes me smile or laugh aloud.
‘It is truly effort doing the Catchathon® occasions however the dogs are amusing attempting to capture the cheese.
‘Each dog is designated 15 minutes, this is to permit the optimum quantity of dogs in one day, which is normally 40.
‘I will take anything in 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 toss a Great Dane sized piece at a Chihuahua.
Carolyne said in some cases it can take a while for the shy dogs to get to grips with the video camera – however they all happen 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 difficult types to picture, apart from dogs who do not have in self-confidence which suggests we need to spend a little bit longer getting them utilized to the lights, flash and being tossed cheese.
‘But they constantly happen – the idea of the cheese gets rid of whatever else.
‘The owner’s responses are constantly good.
‘The laughter is remarkable and everybody entrusts a big smile, having had a fantastic experience.
Carolyne began Carrie Southerton Dog Photography in 2015 after she retired from revealing dogs and has a 7 acre studio outdoors Falkirk.
Carolyne and Alasdair, are popular in the dog world, owning a leading program kennel – Haughmill Kennels – and having actually reproduced and displayed for more than 40 years.
Since 2019 Carolyne has actually 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 understand how to develop the concept.
‘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 contributions 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’ thus 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 assistance offered by all the owners and the numerous Catchathon® Champions throughout the years for assisting to fundraise for Breed Rescues.
The next occasion is on 19 August. Spaces are still available. Visit www.carriesoutherton.co.uk to discover more.
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