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Certain breeds have features that are specific to their genetic lineage. Poodles are known for their petite physique and coat of curls, Golden Retrievers<\/a> have that honey-hued fur and gregarious personality, and German Shepherds boast a muscular body and those iconic pointy ears.<\/p>\n Pit Bulls<\/a> are often recognized for their broad skull, cropped ears, and powerful jaws. Though these canine cuties usually have a short-haired coat, Theo is a Pittie with a very eye-catching hairstyle thanks to something he inherited from his parents.<\/p>\n In the TikTok from @joannaleighmeadow, Theo sat in front of the camera, sporting a long-haired, almost shaggy coat that looked nothing like a typical Pittie. The hair on top of his head was a bit spiky, yet his adorable face was short-haired and framed by a fluffy mane. Theo’s floppy ears sprouted long strands of hair, adding to the non-Pit-like look.<\/p>\n Photos of Theo’s parents revealed that they are both short-haired Pit Bulls who carry the “recessive gene FGF5”. This resulted in Theo and some of his siblings inheriting a mutated hair gene, which prompts the growth of a very unique coat.<\/p>\n “Four out of the nine came out with the mutated hair gene,” the onscreen text explained of Theo’s littermates. “This was not done intentionally and even if you know that both parents are carriers, it still does not guarantee the mutation will occur.”<\/p>\n Theo’s striking appearance clearly sparks curiosity and causes people to do a double-take. The video was posted with the caption, “Hope this answered some questions!”<\/p>\n This specific genetic variant can appear in any dog breed, which allows hair to continue to grow.<\/p>\n “Several genetic variants have been associated with long hair in dogs,” veterinary genecist Dr. Jenna Dockweiler said, according to Newsweek<\/a><\/em>. “These are located in the FGF5 gene, which ordinarily tells the hair when to stop growing. When there is a variant within this gene, that signal is disrupted, allowing the hair to grow longer.”<\/p>\n Dogs have to inherit this gene from both parents to have that head-turning long-haired coat.<\/p>\n “So far, all of these variants within this gene are recessive, meaning a dog needs two copies of the variant in order to grow long hair \u2014 meaning they will need to inherit one copy from each parent,” she added.<\/p>\n Related: Rare Poodle-Pomeranian Mix Looks Like a Plushie Teddy Bear<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Followers loved Theo’s look and noted the lion-like resemblance, as well as similarities to movie characters.<\/p>\n “He looks like a little lion,” one wrote.<\/p>\n “Would\u2019ve named him Chewbacca,” another remarked.<\/p>\n “He reminds me of the lion in Oz!! Rare baby,” someone posted.<\/p>\n Theo is definitely a standout sweetie!<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc36<\/a>SIGN UP to get \u201cpawsitivity\u201d delivered right to your inbox with inspiring & entertaining stories about our furry & feathered friends<\/a><\/strong>\ud83d\udc3e\ud83d\udc3e<\/a><\/p>\n This story was originally published by Parade Pets<\/a> on Feb 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Pet News<\/a> section. Add Parade Pets as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Certain breeds have features that are specific to their genetic lineage. Poodles are known for their petite physique and coat of curls, Golden Retrievers have that honey-hued fur and gregarious personality, and German Shepherds boast a muscular body and those iconic pointy ears. Pit Bulls are often recognized for their broad skull, cropped ears, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}FGF5 Gene Allows Hair Growth<\/h2>\n
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