Ranger is 4 years old, he is a purebred German Shepherd.
A cute, funny and very small German Shepherd lives in the USA, which has made thousands of Internet users fall in love with it.
Ranger is 4 years old, he is a purebred German Shepherd. But you can’t say at all from this dog that he is an adult: the body size is about three times smaller than that of ordinary “brothers”.
And the thing is that the dog suffers from a rare disease.
Shelby Mayo, owner of Shelby Shepherd Dog, has revealed that her pet has been diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called pituitary dwarfism.
Such a disease is inherited and develops in offspring if both parents are carriers of the “broken” gene.
Ranger was born with dwarfism due to inbreeding, that is, crossing animals that are in close family ties, for example, brothers and sisters from the same litter.
Veterinarian Lynn Janes said that the growth of dwarf dogs is very slow, and at the age of about 2-3 months it stops completely. That is why the ranger does not look like an adult dog, but like a teenage puppy.
But small size is not the only symptom. The Ranger also has a very soft and fluffy coat. In adults, it is more severe. And dwarfs live much less than healthy individuals.
Even Ranger was given only 3 years, but the care of a loving hostess, complete care and a happy life allowed him to extend the term, and give him a chance to live for many more years.
A few years ago, Shelby decided to start an Instagram account for her pet. There, Mayo occasionally posts photos of the funny Ranger, as well as his sister Jessie (she is healthy and has a normal size).
By creating this page, the owner of the dog wanted to draw attention to the problem of inbreeding. And Ranger became very popular. Absolutely all subscribers consider him incredibly cute and funny.
