Say cheese, Rover!
A Scottish photographer has raised tens of thousands of dollars for hungry animals with knee-slapping images of dogs catching cubes of queso in their mouths, according to a report.
Carolyne Cowan, of Falkirk, snaps shots of the pooches — ranging from slobbery-mouthed Dachshunds to floppy-eared retrievers — making goofball expressions mid-catch, according to walesonline.com.
“It’s fast and furious and total bedlam at times, but it’s so funny,” said Cowan, 56, who works with her husband Alasdair on the project. “Sometimes I am crying with laughter.”
“Alasdair cuts up around [22 pounds] worth of cheese into cubes, but he has to do different sizes for small dogs and big dogs,” she said. “He throws the cheese to the dog, and then I click away — I tend to get about 50 pictures of each dog.”
Cowan, who owns Carrie Southerton Photography, then picks the best shots of the furry comedians to sell for the cause.
She has so far raised at least $20,000 for local animal food banks and other dog charities from the adorably cheesy “Catchathons,” according to the outlet.
But sometimes the photoshoots go a little ruff at first, she said.
“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,” the photographer said. “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 couple plans to photograph 70 dogs at the next Catchalon on Feb. 26 and 27 and is teaming up with the UK’s Burns Pet Food to feed hungry pups, according to the outlet, which makes no mention of specific food banks they donate to.
Dogs featured in the shots include wild-eyed Pugs, Beagles, and Dobermans, according to Carrie Southerton Photography’s Facebook page.
“The dogs go home in a cheese coma, it’s so much fun and they love it,” she said.