Pituitary dwarfism

Pituitary dwarfism is a congenital deficiency of growth hormones that occurs in dogs. The pituitary gland of affected dogs does not develop normally, resulting in a deficiency of various hormones associated with growth and development.

Affected dogs are smaller than their littermates at the age of 2 to 3 months and do not reach the normal size of an adult dog later on. Apart from the growth deficits, affected dogs also show a characteristic persistence of their soft, woolly puppy coat and do not develop a solid top coat.

Various skin abnormalities such as dandruff, bacterial infections and hyperpigmentation can also be found. At the age of 3 to 5 years, affected dogs often show severe alopecia (hairlessness) on the trunk, neck and limbs and suffer from other disease-related complications such as mental dullness and kidney disease.

If the disease remains untreated, the affected dogs often die or are euthanised at the age of 5 years due to a severely reduced quality of life.