All the dogs are adorable but the smallest ones catch everyone’s attention more as they are easy to carry and play with.
But what happens when your dog doesn’t grow in size and remains small forever? Well, the same happened with a dog owner.
Shelby Mayo told Liftable, a section of The Western Journal: “When we originally got him from the breeder he was smaller than all his other littermates, but we figured that was because he had a parasite called Coccidia,”
Ranger the dog was also suffering from an infection on his neck but within a few months his infection was cured and the parasites were also improved.
But still, Ranger hadn’t grown. The vet said that the dog might have a rare genetic mutation called Pituitary Dwarfism.
Mayo was dubious of Ranger’s condition but she still had hopes that her dog would grow into a full-size German shepherd.
As time passed, the dog remained a small sized puppy and Mayo accepted the fact that Ranger would remain small for his whole life.
“Over time Ranger still did not get much bigger, and at this point, we are certain he does have this condition,” Mayo said.
Mayo with the support of her family formed an Instagram page for Ranger, @ranger_thegshepherd.
The page has more than 50,000 followers and people love this small puppy.
“He lost his appetite, started to lose weight, lost almost all of his fur, and had extremely dry and flaky skin,” Mayo said.
Mayo asked for help from Ranger’s Instagram followers and one user named Guardians Farm sent Ranger a special goat milk soap to help heal his skin. Another follower suggested checking his thyroid.
“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,” Mayo said.
“Ranger’s litter was the first litter that our breeder had bred those two specific dogs together,” Mayo said. “We believe this was the cause of the genetic defect.”
“Some of our favorite things about being Ranger’s owner is just seeing how full of life and energetic he is!” Mayo said. “He is a ball of energy and loves to play with his toys and ball with his sister Hazel! They are inseparable and do everything together!”