Teeth Problem Again (2 months later) - Page 2

A matter of degree !! .. true some undershot jaws do catch up ..if it is within a certain range .. But it is the amount or percentage of descrepancy that will be the determing factor. ! a little bit... then as others said -you may be ok .. and i mean just a little . BUT if the difference between maxilla [upper jaw] and mandible [ lower jaw] is significant .. you have a very big problem... that might minimize... but the bite and jaw relationship will not be correct . for exapmle if there is an inch discrepancy .. which i have seen before .. chances are this  will not rectify by growth. Now .. i don't know what others say .. but i will tell you this .. any pup sold other than the purposes of only pet companion should be well scrutinized. everything should be evaluated and IMO i don't care who sold the dog to who .to importer or whatever . the first factors to look at are the eyes , coat, gums , angiulation , proprtions , how the legs fall[stright vs. cow hocked] etc etc.  as well as the teeth and the bite relationship . I would have a very veryu seriuos talk with the person you bought the pup from . now if you bought the dog from Europe .. HMMM,. most GSDs are bought with no gaurantee . .so you better have had a good understanding or written agreement ..my feeling/instinct...... i think you will be stuck with a pup that you will keep as a pet.

I do know that vets and specialists can be wrong about pups.  Why?  Because often they see a dog at one static point in time and say, OMG, we MUST fix that NOW.  Yet breeders WATCH as the dogs grow and mature.  They often have a more clear picture.   I do know that mouth structure CAN change markedly.

I can't comment on this specific situation as I am not a breeder.  There are no guarantess and you won't get a firm answer here either.  You can simply be diligent, help her teeth fall out, give her much to chew on, and hope!  The advice on the board about chewing, mouthing balls, etc should be heeded.

Just like with bad hips, sometimes it can happen in a litter where the parents are OFA good.  One never knows.  Sometimes, a pup gets the short end of the stick in one area. 

I wish you luck.  I know you must be worried.

Damn, the links i put in my message did not show up earlier.

Try it again.

overbites < posts from the past

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins_read/67287.html

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins_read/36664.html

I wish you the best but don't get your hopes up. still can be a good pet

Someone suggested waiting until 18mos . for what  .? give  the dog back then...I thought this person wanted to show.,..shouldnt u already be in puppy division from 9-12mos and then on to next level:  even in Tug work and puppy sleeve, how is a bite like that gonna work ....his teeth arent  together properly that far out of alignment.,,,,,,jaw teeth wont match on the clamp down?  Id be afraid his back joints of jaw would be weak also...its too great a chance to take , IMO 

yellowrose, the puppy is only 3.5 months old. So barely ready to be shown and it isn't that crucial for him to start anything serious on bitework at this age. I guess alot depends on his feelings for this pup. I have gathered he is somewhat bonded to her . If that is the case its not always easy to bring her back for a better model. If she were mine I would wait it out,  if she couldn't be shown I would just keep her has a pet and move on. Maybe the breeder would give an adjustment on another pup being this one didn't pan out, but then that is me. I still think her bite will get better, maybe not perfect but it should improve. Like I said, my little girls bite was not looking so hot, it didn't slow her down on biting either, but at 7 months it is just about perfect.

This is just how things can go... you get a really nice dog and then one little thing is just not quite so perfect. :o) The best any breeder can promise is to give you a pup that shows good promise at the time it is shipped.
First this pup needs to grow up to see if the bite will correct itself. Often that happens, sometimes it does not. Make sure pup gets proper nutrition. Then stop looking at and obsessing with the pups mouth all the time, enjoy the pup for now. Lots of other things that can keep the pup from being the next show super star. Lots of steps til then - ears, size, HD, ED, etc. No sense loosing sleep over any of that now. 
This is never more than a minor flaw. It may keep this pup from a successful show carreer but will not affect its value as a great companion. So give the pup the best upbringing you can so that you either raise a good companion for yourself if the bite should not correct itself, or so that you may place this pup in a good companion home later should you decide not to keep the pup. No need to get stuck with anything here. Lots of people out there who would love a good looking pup as a sofa trophy and do not care about teeth. So why should you get a full replacement for something that you, or someone else, can still get enjoyment and use out of.
Even if this does not correct itself, it does not warrant a full replacement unless a contract stipulates that. Few contracts do. If any vague guarantees were given (guarantee to be show quality) then a partial replacement is adequate since this pup still provides good companion value. How it will be handled is between the buyer and the seller. Seems they are in communication, so no need for any of the uninitiated here to throw out the baby with the bath water again. Let them handle it and not put any crazy ideas into anyone head that will only cause a rift where there is none right now!
You asked what to ask the breeder? Ask the breeder what he intends to do if this pup grows up and the teeth are not correct. Then listen, stay reasonable, and go from there. We do not know what the terms of purchase were. You need to stick to these terms, stay realistic and reasonable and find a solution together.

Yellowrose, an overbite has nothing to do with biting power or how well a dog can do SchH or even K9 work. Lots of dogs with dentition problems go into K9 work, actually that is a strong reason why so many good dogs end up there. Some K9 handlers make an issue over broken canines (which can break during training or during a K9 carreer), but that still do not stop a bite from being effective. The teeth do not have to be or fit 'together properly' as they are not biting down on something with the goal to have the teeth end up meeting. They just need to grip and to hold on. To get a grip and hold, the jagged edges of all the teeth and the pressure of both jaws clamping down is what holds on to the object. Like a piece of velcro - still sticks even if you don't hit it dead on. Even if teeth do not match up the dog can still eat properly (dogs inhale food anyways as dogs teeth are for tearing big chunks off that are managable enough to be swallowed, not for grinding food like humans do) and also perform bite work. The worst overbite I have ever seen was at least a full inch, dog had a crushing bite and went into dual purpose police work. Compare it if you may with dogs that have shorter muzzles. A shorter muzzle does not mean that biting power is lost. I.e. Rottweiler and most bully breeds.

D.H.: you are entirely right on all points,  but I would be very embarrassed it I sold a pup with that overbite.....that s the first thing I check on a pup as soon as teeth come in ,,,,,,,I will not accept that in any pup.....I guess Im too picky.....

Yellowrose, you cannot tell what kind of a bite a pup will have later in life at 3 weeks when teeth come in. You cannot even see at 8 weeks if a pup will develop perfect dentition or will develop a permanent overbite or other dentition flaws unless it is very pronouced at that time already. And that is the age when pups are sold. A couple of millimeters out at 8 weeks usually corrects itself. I'd rather see a bite that is not too crowded at that age anyways. So what do you do with the pups that you feel very embarrassed about and that show you something that you will not accept? 
gsdlvr2, as it was mentioned in the threads re dentition so far having a bite that does not match at 3 months is nothing out of the ordinary. I would wait and see how things develops. A slight overbite is still within the standard, 2mm, though it does exclude a dog from a V and KKL1 rating. But it will not affect its performance. Food and how the pup assimilates the food can be an issue in how a pup grows. If this is the only pup in the litter that has this and the others are fine with the same feeding regimen chances are it is just a developmental issue.