A Labrador puppy whose legs stopped growing is constantly being mistaken for a dachshund.
Kenny, an eleven-month-old black Labrador, appeared to be a normal puppy when his owners brought him home in November.
But it soon became clear that there was something a little different about him.
Kenny has the head, body and tail of a regular Labrador, but the little legs of a sausage dog, The Mirror reports.
He was welcomed into his family on the Isle of Wight in November last year, but his owners became concerned a few months later when he began to grow – but his legs didn’t.
Owner Keelin Scholes, 25, said: “He was the runt of the litter and hand reared from six days old because his mum had rejected him.
“We always knew he was small because he was the runt, but a few months later his littermate – owned by my friend – was twice his size.”
During a vet check, Keelin and her partner Angus were told that Kenny had something wrong with his legs.
After some research, they discovered that it was a type of dwarfism that affects his breed.
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Keelin added: “We looked on the Kennel Club and found out that his mum and dad both carried the SD2 gene which is a form of skeletal dwarfism in Labradors. But all of Kenny’s littermates are normal sized.
“He’s got a normal sized head, body and tail, it’s just his legs that are just teeny tiny. All his insides are normal too, but this was something our vet had never seen before.”
The 25-year-old had previously fallen in love with black Labs after her family dog had lived to the age of 12-and-a-half.
She said: “We knew we wanted a black Lab because we’d fallen in love with the breed – who knew people would argue with me that he’s a sausage dog!
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“He’s really short, we can't go anywhere without someone saying ‘what is your dog?’ and people never believe he’s a Labrador. Some people try to tell us off for bad breeding. We didn't know he had dwarfism when we got him, and we love him either way.
“I’m pleased we’ve got him and we wouldn't change him for the world, he’s really funny – he’s a small dog but the personality of a big Lab.”
Despite his little legs, Kenny loves racing across the beach, going for a swim, and chasing his ball across the island.
But his family never get far before being flooded with questions about the little dog.
Keelin added: “He’s famous on the island – like a little celebrity. If we go to the beach or the forest people always recognise him and shout out to him.
“We walk down the seafront and can't walk five steps without someone going ‘oh my god, look at that dog!’ Loads of people ask to take photos of him, too!”
Keelin posted a video of Kenny to her TikTok account, which saw the little Labrador reach over 220,000 views.
One user said: “He’s still absolutely gorgeous no matter what length his legs are.”
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