A camera-loving dog from Hadleigh is walking on proud paws this month as he celebrates being the cover canine on SESAW’s first ever calendar.

East Anglian Daily Times: Don Cox's three year-old rescue dog Bowza is featured on the cover of animal rescue centre SESAW's calendar.Don Cox's three year-old rescue dog Bowza is featured on the cover of animal rescue centre SESAW's calendar.

Bowza and owner Don Cox have been helping to sell copies of the calendar for charity, and made a particularly good impression in the Sudbury branch of Barclays recently, where Bowza distributed wet kisses and high fives in order to clinch sales.

Suffolk and Essex Small Animal Welfare – known as SESAW – is a registered charity based in Leavenheath on the Suffolk/Essex border which cares for abandoned or injured animals ranging from cats, dogs and rabbits to birds and pasture animals.

SESAW received more than 1,000 entries in a competition seeking 12 pets to appear in its calendar, but it was Labrador cross husky, cross Rottweiler Bowza that pipped the others to the post.

Talking about how Bowza came into his life, Don said: “I went to SESAW and said I was looking for a puppy to train and said I used to run long distance races but was now doing long distances walking challenges and I need a dog strong enough.

“A couple of weeks later they came back and said there was someone who had the mum, dad and eight puppies at their house and wanted to find them a home. We went to look and there was this one particular dog. I do think dogs pick their owners. We went and picked him up a couple of days later.

“I’ve had dogs all my life and he’s the most intelligent dog ever. You only have to tell him something two or three times and he does it.”

Bowza, aged three years, 10 months, loves to chase rabbits and birds, and is a keen walker too, having accompanied Don on four long distance 27 mile challenge walks, gaining his very own certificate.

Shooting for the calendar was no chore for the hefty 44kg dog, who has been posing for Don’s own calendar photos very happily since he was a pup.

The calendar is on sale at the SESAW website at £6 plus postage. Don hopes it will be available in Hadleigh soon. And it will be on sale at the Christmas tabletop sale at the Old School, Long Melford this weekend, November 15, from 10am to 2pm.