{"id":5502,"date":"2026-09-29T23:40:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T23:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/?p=5502"},"modified":"2026-09-29T23:40:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T23:40:26","slug":"ranger-looks-like-a-german-shepherd-puppy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/?p=5502","title":{"rendered":"Ranger looks like a German Shepherd puppy."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ranger looks like a German Shepherd puppy.<\/p>\n

But he is very much an adult.<\/p>\n

The Arizona dog was born in 2017 and was still dramatically smaller than a typical <\/p>\n

German Shepherd years later. <\/p>\n

After his owners noticed that he had stopped growing normally, <\/p>\n

Veterinarians determined that Ranger had pituitary dwarfism.<\/p>\n

The rare condition affects the pituitary gland and limits production of growth hormones. <\/p>\n

It is seen most often in German Shepherds <\/p>\n

And can leave affected dogs unusually small while they retain puppy-like coats and proportions.<\/p>\n

But Ranger’s story is not simply about having a permanently cute appearance.<\/p>\n

His owners have said the condition brought health problems, <\/p>\n

Including fur loss, dry skin and hypothyroidism. <\/p>\n

He required medication, and they have repeatedly warned people that dwarf German Shepherds should not be intentionally bred simply because they look adorable.<\/p>\n

Ranger’s owners have also made an important distinction: while his body stayed small, he matured mentally like any other German Shepherd.<\/p>\n

In other words, the puppy face belongs to a full-grown dog.<\/p>\n

Sources: The Independent; American Kennel Club; MSD Veterinary Manual; FOX 10 Phoenix.<\/p>\n

Would you have guessed Ranger was an adult if you saw him without knowing his story<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ranger looks like a German Shepherd puppy. But he is very much an adult. The Arizona dog was born in 2017 and was still dramatically smaller than a typical German Shepherd years later. After his owners noticed that he had stopped growing normally, Veterinarians determined that Ranger had pituitary dwarfism. The rare condition affects the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5502"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5505,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5502\/revisions\/5505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}