Ranger may look like a cute puppy but he’s actually two years old already.
The purebred AKC German Shepherd suffers from pituitary dwarfism which German Shepherds are actually predisposed to.
It happened when Ranger contracted Giardia, a type of parasite. Although he recovered from his infection, Ranger’s owners soon noticed that Ranger’s growth wasn’t what a normal German Shepherd should be.
Watch this adorable video of him below.
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Video credit: Rumble
The vet they took him to suspected that Ranger might have pituitary dwarfism. And because of this, the pooch also had numerous health issues that included shedding fur and having flaky skin due to hypothyroidism.
But you wouldn’t know if from Ranger as his big-hearted attitude has won him legions of fans online. Combined with the love that his owners showered on him, this under-dog is living his best life.
Recently, they filmed Ranger making his ‘signature’ head tilt while playing with his sisters Jessie, a fellow German Shepherd, and Hazel the Labrador.
Shelby Mayo, Ranger’s 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.
“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 skeptical 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.”
“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.
“He’s 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.”
Replaced!