A dog photographer captured these hilarious pictures of pooches trying to catch cubes of cheese – and said their extraordinary expressions made her cry with laughter.
Carolyne Cowan, 56, spends 15 minutes snapping the dogs while her husband Alasdair, 63, throws treats towards them – taking around 50 pictures per pet.
Mum-of-two Carolyne started the Cathathon event in 2018 to raise money for dog charities, and has pictured Pugs, Beagles, Dobermans, and Dachshunds.
She put on the event for 14 months, raising £15,000, but was forced to pull the plug on it when covid hit.
After seeing the plight of dog owners forced to used food banks on the news Carolyne and Alasdair decided to restart the event.
Alasdair dices up 10kg of cheese for the pooches, making sure to cut different sizes for different breeds.
Carolyne, from Falkirk, said snapping the pictures is often ‘bedlam’ but still laughs at the hilarious expressions.
She said she captures the millisecond moment owners don’t get so see when they give their dog a treat
Gran-of-three Carolyne said: “It’s fast and furious and total bedlam at times but it’s so funny – it’s like a doctor surgery with one in and one out and me shouting ‘next’.
“Alasdair cuts up around 10kg worth of cheese into cubes but he has to do different sizes for small dogs and big dogs.
“He throws the cheese to the dog and then I click away – I tend to get about 50 pictures of each dog.
“Afterwards I go through all the pictures and narrow it down to the best ten - it’s a laugh a minute.
“Not all dogs settle right away so we make sure we take the time to get them comfortable, but most are fine after five minutes.
“Some dogs will just look at you when you throw the cheese at them but the fails sometimes make better pictures than the catch.
“The dogs go home in a cheese coma, it’s so much fun and they love it.
“When owners give their dog a treat it happens so fast you don’t get a chance to see their facial expression.
“I capture that millisecond moment where you see what they look like actually taking the treat.
“Their hair is everywhere, and their ears get in the way, it’s fabulous.
“I have seen thousands of these pictures but I still find myself laughing out loud when I look through them afterwards.
“Sometimes I am crying with laughter they are so funny.”
The couple is hoping to picture 70 dogs at the next Cathathon on February 26 and 27 and have teamed up with Burns pet food who will supply dog food to be donated.
They want to raise £2,000 with Burns giving them £8,000 worth of food – around a ton of dog food which the pair will donate to food banks.
Carolyne, who owns Carrie Southerton Photography, said: “We had our first event in November 2018.
“At the first one there was only about ten dogs that came along but by the third one we had a waiting list.
“I can photograph 30 to 40 dogs in a day if I am pushing it.
“When covid hit we had to stop the events but a few weeks ago I was watching the news and I saw a woman talking about having to use food banks after losing her job.
“She said it was fine for human food but not pet food and she was facing feeding her dogs or her kids.
“It was a lightbulb moment that we could start doing the Catchathon again to raise money to buy dog food for food banks.
“We teamed up with Burns pet food who have agreed to sponsor the event.
“I am hoping to photograph 70 dogs during the event at the end of the month, which at £30 a dog will raise around £2,000.
“Burns have then agreed to supply us with £8,000 worth of pet food, which is about a ton of dog food, and we will then donate it to food banks.
“It’s amazing the support they have given us.”
To find out more about the Catchathon on Feb 26 and 27 visit https://www.facebook.com/carriesouthertonphotography
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