I was wondering if a puppy who is now 5 months old has a slight overbite could correct itself when her jaws and over all head is more developed ?
Her teeth are straight and full dentition, I'm just not sure what is acceptable to breed from later one and what alot of judges think of a slight overbite. It's not extreme at all. Normally I have problems with a couple missing teeth in my lines here and there so the slight over bite is a new one to me. Thanks for your input to all those long time breeders !!
I think the first question i have is , was the overbite there by the time he was 8 weeks old or is this how the bite is going now? Also, i would ask how many puppy teeth is he missing? the bite can do alot of wonky things when they have a mouthful of missing teeth!
we had a puppy that had an overbite noticeable by 6 weeks old. I just saw him a few weeks ago- at 9 months of age..he looks good! not perfect bite, but really good and improved. So they can correct themselves!
Yes it can possibly correct itself, and no, an overbite would not probably fly in the show ring, slight or not. The breed standard specifies what the bite should be like, and judges are obligated to follow the breed standard, for good reason.
As far as breeding, no one can tell you what you should do, but there definitely is a hereditary component to a misaligned jaw.
This would not correct the genetic issue, but I have heard of people giving large knuckle bones so that the pup tries to remove matter from the bone (sort of pinching with his upper and lower jaw). It might help bring it out?
This bitch puppy @ 8 weeks of age had a very slight over bite, same as it is at 5 months old today. The problem is, she is the last hope with these particular lines as her mother is spayed. I was really hoping to show her at this summer's specialty to. Big fat bummer.
When I had the pups in to my vet getting wellness checkups at around 12 weeks of age, my vet showed me how this same bitch puppie's lower canines were putting preassure on the upper gums. She said something about her lower jaw needing to widen up some but that it wasn't anything that needed dental work such as teeth pulling etc.
I guess I'll just wait it out and see how her bite turns out. thanks for your replys !
If she is base narrow, you might do OK. I've had one go from scissors, to underbite, back to scissors, one overbite that remained as an overbite, and I've had a slight overbite correct itself.
The best advice I think I can give is, you've waited this long and her head still has lots of growing to do. Hold on to her for another few months and see how things shake out.
Words being what they are, I can't help but wonder what you mean by a slight overbite. Could you possible measure it. You could probably do that with a stick, a tongue depressor, or whatever. Once you mark it you can measure from there with a ruler.
