Stephen Shkuratoff of Calgary, Canada, is a member of the Dogspotting Society Facebook group. As a member, he was alerted every time someone in the group shared a post, talked about their dogs, or welcomed new members. But, since Stephen is blind, he’s unable to see the pictures of the dogs.
At least until he reached out for a little bit of help.
“I love being a member of this group!” Stephen posted. “I am blind and was hoping to ask for more dog descriptions. Personality traits are more helpful than colors. Like how soft the dog is, for example. Bonus as always for dogs full of kisses and snuggles. Thanks for making me feel included. I hope no one minds me asking for descriptions a lot recently.”
Stephen Shkuratoff is blind, but he loves being a member of the Dogspotting Society Facebook group.
It was overwhelming how quick the group was to respond, with many of the responses being very attentive to the details like he’d asked. So far, there have been at least 2,000 responses to his post.
One member, Joy Violet, wrote, “My two dogs, Frank and Tipsy are Pitbulls from the local shelter. Both are pretty small, Frank being short and squat, Tipsy being slender and muscular. Frank is a huge baby, he’s cuddly and whines a lot. Tipsy is joyful and loves everyone and everything. They act as parents to my three kittens and every other animal I bring home to foster. They love to cuddle!”
Shkuratoff asked the group for descriptions of their dogs.
Kat Cox-Arslan commented, “I have a Boston terrier named Elma. Her name means Apple in Turkish because she is the apple of my eye. She is a very sweet and quiet dog and rarely barks. We have to be careful she does not get shut in a bathroom by accident because she is so so quiet. She makes up for no loud barks with the loudest snores you’ve ever heard from an 18-pound animal. She is also an expert blanket hog and particularly likes faux fur blanket throws. She is very friendly but sometimes she’s ignored by larger dogs because she’s small and usually wearing a jacket because she hates the cold. She loves to play tug and run around with sticks or small branches. I feel so lucky to have her. Thanks for letting me share her!”
“The last dog I fostered was a schnauzer. She had short grey, black and white hair that was deceptively soft. Her ears stuck straight up all the time and so when she would nuzzle her snoot into the crook of my neck, the velvet lining of her ear would press against my cheek,” stated Pheronica Yvonne.
Shkuratoff’s post has more than 2,000 comments so far.
And Lauren Fratantonio Dunn shared, “Hello! I personally do not have a dog, but my Mom does. Her dogs name is Sydney, she is a papillon. She is short, below our knees, and her hair feels like silk! She has BIG ears that are fluffy and she runs around real fast all day, her little feet sound like candy spilling across the floor- that’s why we call her “skittle tappers” as a nickname! She is very affectionate and she makes all kinds of noises- it sounds like she is trying to form words all the time, it’s hilarious, I never knew dogs could make some of the sounds she does.”
Plenty of the other comments also clearly came from the heart. It was so nice to see the good in people helping a blind man “see” dogs.
And Stephen was touched, replying, “All these descriptions are so lovely and I am very thankful.”
