患有侏儒症的 永远的小狗

Two-year-old Ranger, a purebred German shepherd, is no puppy. His small stature is due to pituitary dwarfism, a genetic condition that appears in certain dog breeds, including German shepherds, corgis and basset hounds.

两岁的兰杰是一只纯种的德国牧羊犬，它可不是小狗。他的矮小身材是由于脑下垂体侏儒症，这是一种遗传疾病，出现在包括德国牧羊犬、柯基犬和巴吉特猎犬的某些犬种，。

Ranger’s owner, Phoenix-based Shelby Mayo, knew she’d picked the runt of the litter when she found the petite pup. But she didn’t know he’d stay that small forever.

护林员主人、居住在凤凰城的谢尔比·梅奥(Shelby Mayo)知道，当她发现这只小狗崽时，她选定了最矮的那只。但她不知道他会永远这么小。

“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,” Mayo told South Wales News Service.

“我们最初从饲养员那里得到兰杰时，它比其他所有的同窝伙伴都要小，但我们以为是因为它身上有寄生虫，”梅奥告诉南威尔士新闻社。

She treated Ranger for the parasite, but later found out he had an additional parasite, giardia, plus an “infection” on his neck, so Mayo took him to the vet for treatment. That’s when she found out just how special her sick dog was.

她为兰杰治疗了这种寄生虫，但后来发现他还有另外一种寄生虫——贾第鞭毛虫，而且脖子上还有“感染”，所以梅奥带他去兽医那里治疗。就在那时，她发现这只狗有多么特别。

“During this time Ranger remained very small,” says Mayo, “[And] the vet had suspected that he may have pituitary dwarfism.”

“在这段时间里兰杰的体型一直很小，”梅奥说，“兽医怀疑他可能患有脑下垂体侏儒症。”

“Over time Ranger still did not get much bigger,” says Mayo, who was eventually convinced he had the recessive genetic disorder, meaning both parents must be a carrier of the mutation, even if they don’t exhibit it themselves.

“随着时间的推移，兰杰仍然没有变得更大，”梅奥说，他最终确信自己患有隐性遗传疾病，这意味着父母双方都是这种突变的携带者，即使父母本身并没有表现出来。