Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:21 pm Post subject: Slovak teeth problems - anyone else?
I'm having to have Grey see a canine orthodontist. I know of one other person with similar serious bite fault issues like Grey's, but have also been hearing that in general they get their teeth very late.
Grey's problems are that his lower jaw is undershot (or is it upper jaw over shot?). His bottom canines puncture his upper palette and he also has punctures in his side gums between the molars.
My general view is that with so few dogs in the gene pool that these issues need to be bred out. With Grey's parents and the parents of the other dog I know that's 2 main stud dogs and 2 breeding bitches, so four in total. There is a current litter for sale with the same pairing as the other dog I've been in contact with.
It would be really helpful to find others with similar bite issues.
It's happened in the early days of GWP's where one breeder used to get his dogs' teeth "capped" so they didn't mark the gums/roof of the mouth and when the adult teeth come they do manage to grow outside of the top gums in the right slot.
It's quite common in Setters too - lots of panic yet given time they have all come good without any intervention. Vets tend to immediately want to remove the teeth instead of waiting. There was a young bitch sired by well known Gordon Setter dog who had this problem and the breeder moved her on. Come 6 months old she came back for an update and breeder checked her mouth ....... well you can guess the rest
Goes with the narrow bottom jaw - so breeds who are getting narrow jaws all have a tendency for this to happen with youngsters. Also pretty common in the mini Dachshunds too.
Be interesting to see what the specialist says as he is also a bit over shot (top teeth over bottom teeth). Specialist may suggest you do things like tugger to help the bottom jaw grow a bit longer so as to close the gap. If the gap remains like it is it will also mean that the side teeth may "not" be in the right places for perfection but will be OK for a dog to lead a normal life.
Also bear in mind that should this come correct when he is adult no-one will know that he has had any problems. This is why it is happening as most people aren't truthful with any problems they breed so if it "rights itself" then they certainly aren't going to be truthful and say "but as a puppy his mouth was like XXXX" Hence people will breed with dogs after checking that the mouths are correct, amoungst other things, and that's why these sort of things keep cropping up.
Just my views though _________________ Sharon Pinkerton
www.bareve.com
Owner & breeder of Field Trial 1st prize winners
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Our (female!) Grey has good teeth, if that's any use (bit useless for statistics but there we are).
I agree that, if possible, it might be good to wait and see what happens when he has his adult teeth in everywhere. But if he's in pain or discomfort you may not be able to do that _________________ Slate and Grey
He does look fairly overshot, however how old is he now? The bottom jaw is the last to stop growing and so to some extent you do want your puppy to be overshot. Whistle's breeder told me once that even at 10mths old she likes to see a puppy slightly overshot because the bottom jaw is still growing.
Maybe his bite will correct itself and therefore the only issue was the speed at which his jaw was growing? Or maybe he will end up slightly overshot. Bites are always a worry until the jaw stops growing. Personally I would want to wait and see how the bite turned out but obviously if he is in a lot of pain then its difficult to know what to do for the best
Good luck! _________________ Hunting is natural, even foxes do it !
Whenever life hands you lemons, grab the salt and add the tequila
He's 17 weeks now (well tomorrow! ). I've spoken to someone else who had similar prob and went to dentist at 12 months. She had been told that it was a shame she had not come sooner. So, for now, am keeping an eye on it. Will take weekly pictures and see how things progress.
He seems fine in himself, which is the main thing.
Can this breed be shown in the UK? If so I would think dentistry might be a problem - not allowed by the KC I don't think (well not if the dog is to be shown that is)
BA _________________ Aberdon HPR's. Good-looking AND Intelligent.
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). I've spoken to someone else who had similar prob and went to dentist at 12 months. She had been told that it was a shame she had not come sooner. So, for now, am keeping an eye on it. Will take weekly pictures and see how things progress.
