Joe Kahlo
Everyone loves puppies, even non-dog lovers can appreciate the extreme cuteness and pure-hearted look of a young pup.
Secretly, a lot of us wish our furbabies would just stay small, pudgy and downright adorable forever. But alas, they grow up and puppyhood is over.
It can only take a few months to convert a cute, goofy pup into a fully grown majestic adult, particularly German shepherds.
They are one of the biggest dog breeds around and can grow into large sublime working dogs. One special pup though will stay his tiny cute adorable self for the rest of his life.
Ranger is a 3-year-old fully grown purebred German shepherd who suffers from a rare condition called Pituitary Dwarfism. This means that he will be stuck in puppy-hood for the rest of his life.
As adorably as Ranger is, this rare condition does come with some negative side effects.
Since the condition can be inherited recessively in certain breeds like German shepherds, his human Shelby Mayo thinks it is because of his parent’s genetics.
“When we originally got Ranger from the breeder, he was smaller than all his other littermates, but we figured that was because he had a parasite called Coccidia”
“In the weeks following, we took him home and he was parasite free but later on ended up getting a parasite called Giardia. At the same time, we also discovered that Ranger had a large infection on his neck. We were eventually able to get the infection under control, fast forward a few months later we were finally able to get rid of Giardia.”
But even though he had recovered from the Giardia parasite, Ranger still wasn’t growing at a normal rate. This prompted Shelby to take him back to the vet where he was diagnosed with Pituitary Dwarfism.
The condition also causes Ranger to have flaky skin and hormones since his body is not producing enough hormones. Thankfully, he is currently taking medication to manage this.
Ranger has two siblings, sisters to be exact. One is a labrador and one of them is also a German shepherd.
Rangers tiny size doesn’t hold him back and he still loves to play around with his sisters.
He is happier and healthier than ever and is very loved by the Mayo family!
