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Adult German Shepherd With Rare Condition Looks Like Puppy

Adult German Shepherd With Rare Condition Looks Like Puppy

The adorable pooch has got an army of followers due to his adorable looks

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A German Shepherd with a rare condition still looks like a young pup, despite being two-years-old.

Ranger has pituitary dwarfism, which means he doesn't age the same way other dogs do and he will be looking like a pup for a lot longer than normal.

The adorable pooch was diagnosed with the condition after he contracted a parasite called Giardia.

Following his treatment for the Giardia, his owners noticed that he wasn't growing at the same rate a German Shepherd should.

So, they took him to the vet who suggested Ranger has pituitary dwarfism, which German Shepherds are predisposed to.

SWNS

As a side-effect of the condition, poor Ranger has been hit with a number of health issues, such as losing his fur and flaky skin caused by hypothyroidism.

But don't feel too sorry about cute little Ranger, because thanks to his loving owners and a bunch of enamoured fans online, the dog has been able to get the treatment he needed for his various complaints and has made a full recovery from his skin and fur problems.

Now the healthy and happy dog has an army of followers on his Instagram account and spends his days playing with his pooch sisters Hazel and Jessie.

Shelby Mayo who is Rangers guardian, said: "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.

SWNS

"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.

''During this time Ranger remained very small, the vet had suspected that he may have Pituitary Dwarfism, a genetic mutation

"But we were still sceptical as this condition is very rare.

''Over time Ranger still did not get much bigger, and at this point we are certain he does have this condition.

"After a few more months we got him neutered and that's when we started to see big changes.

"He lost his appetite, started to lose weight, lost almost all of his fur, and had extremely dry and flaky skin.

SWNS

''Many people on our Instagram page warned us that Pituitary Dwarfs can have many medical issues, but up until that point we hadn't experienced any.

"One of our followers 'Guardians Farm' are a small company that makes handmade soaps, lotions, etc and they sent us goat milk soap, which ended up helping Rangers skin immensely.

"At the same time another one of our followers who also has a Dwarf German Shepard told us to get his thyroid levels checked as many dwarfs suffer from hypothyroidism.

"So, our vet checked his thyroid levels and sure enough he was low, this can cause hair loss and a loss of appetite.

"After getting Ranger on Levothyroxine and using this soap his fur grew back and the dryness went away.

SWNS

"Rangers litter was the first litter that our breeder had bred those to specific dogs together."

"We believe this was the cause of the genetic defect. And as a responsible breeder will not breed the two dogs together again.

''He healthy and happy as can be as of now and loves jumping around and playing with his ball and squeaky toys with his two sisters Hazel and Jessie."

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: Animals, Dogs