A German Shepherd pup has a rare condition resulting in a sort of dwarfism. This means he'll always look like a puppy but, in our opinion, he couldn't be any cuter.

A full-size pup?

German Shepherd dogs generally reach their full height at around 18 months but that’s not the case for this little chappy who will never grow full size. At two years old, Ranger the GSD still looks like a puppy and always will.

As a puppy, Ranger was diagnosed with a parasite called Giardia and his new owners assumed this was why he was smaller than the rest of his littermates. He also had a large infection on his neck and in those early days, his owners were far more concerned with making him better than analysing why he was small.

A very rare condition

Once his infection was under control, the vet suspected that the little guy might be so little because of a condition called Pituitary Dwarfism. The condition is extremely rare so the veterinarian team were reluctant to say for sure.

At the age of two, Ranger is still as cute and playful as a puppy meaning his owners are now certain that this is the case.

A happy dog

The condition isn’t without its drawbacks and Ranger suffers from dry skin and occasional fur loss but his owners say he doesn’t let anything hold him back. She adds,

“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."

His owners believe the condition was the result of breeding two specific dogs and the responsible breeder will not attempt to breed the dogs again.

Unsurprisingly, Ranger has his own Instagram account with a whopping 75,000 followers. To stay up to date with Ranger’s story, take a look at @ranger_thegshepherd