Visually impaired Calgarian wanted descriptions of dogs and was overwhelmed

A Calgary man who is visually impaired says he was overwhelmed with the responses he has received after asking for people to describe their dogs.

Stephen Shkuratoff is a dog lover and a member of the Dogspotting Society's Facebook page — a site where people post photos of cute dogs they've seen.

Shkuratoff says he can see some shapes but wasn't able to enjoy the photos as much as others could. So he asked members to post descriptions instead, which he listens to through a screen reader on his phone. 

"I just asked people if they could describe their dogs with more so personality traits than colours, because I can't see colours very well," he said. "So I figured that personality trait to be more helpful."

There's now more than 2,000 replies. 

Descriptions pour in

"My dogs are bigger mutts," wrote one member in response. 

"They have coarse hair on their bodies. Like a paintbrush but shorter. They are very warm. Their ears are soft and not as warm. Their is a silliness to the ears, which are also flexible like a silicone oven mitt."

"I have a 12-year-old beagle named Bassie," wrote another.

"She has soft short and silky fur but is a bit of a stinky girl. It's a beagle thing. She has a Mohawk on the back of her head and from behind looks similar to a goat. She is very excitable."

The large response caught Shkuratoff by surprise and led to multiple articles, including one on People magazine's website. 

"It makes me feel really nice. It's really nice to respond. It's kind of overwhelming," he said. 

Shkuratoff hopes others will follow his lead and speak up if they need help on social media.