Level teeth on a 5-month old pup

[abelmanalo]

I bought a pup to show and probably use as stud when he reaches maturity. He's very typical and impressive and shows lots of show potential. Anyway, I noticed his teeth changed and the front teeth are level instead of scissor-bite. Are there any precautions/ corrective measures I can take to fix it? The breeder told me not to let him chew on anything hard as long as he's maturing. Will this help?
He also has long hindlegs and they tend to turn in at the hocks and out at the feet. Is this due to lack of exercise? Is it normal for puppies? What can I do?

[Maggie]

Hi there,?Has your puppy got all his second teeth?if he has I would be very concerned if his bite is level at this age,in my opinion this will more than likely go undershot as his head developes. I prefer puppies especially the males to be slightly over as young pups.?Did you buy this puppy with any written contract?

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Maggie Murray
Rottweiler Specialist Judge
New Zealand

[Maggie]

Sorry I had forgotten your second question. As you have described the hind quarters, I would definately say your pup is cow-hocked,which ideally you dont want. Some pups between the ages of 5 to 8 months can go slightly cow-hocked,but if they are still like this after this period,then they will usually stay this way. Hope this helps.

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Maggie Murray
Rottweiler Specialist Judge
New Zealand

[frontierrots]

My experience is the same as Maggie's. If he is level now he may go reverse scissor or undershot by 3 years

Cow hocked- puppies sometimes just stand funny if he is still like this at 9 months then it is a defect

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Diane
Frontier Rottweilers & Shiba Inu
www.frontierrots.com

[abelmanalo]

Thanks for the replies! I'm truly grateful and flattered that people of your stature would be kind enough to take their time to help a newcomer like me.
No I don't have a contract in buying him. I'm not sure if all his front teeth have changed yet but the canines have just fallen off and new ones are starting to grow. I sure hope it doesn't happen that it doesn't improve as I've spent all my money into buying this pup and of all the puppies I've looked at, this one has a beautiful head and gaits as if he owns the world. So it would be a shame to have a defect that will throw all of these good qualities away.
One thing we noticed is that this particular puppy has a thick lower jaw which the breeder said is a good thing. I just hope it isn't because of this that the teeth will turn out to be undershot.
Well, the hocks have improved considerably since I've been taking him for long walks. I guess it's just due to lack of proper muscular tone that makes him stand funny.

About him chewing on things, will it really worsen the bite?

[Maggie]

Hi again,well I really hope his bite will be okay. Have a good look at six months,all of his second teeth will be there by then. I wouldnt exercise your puppy too much,gentle exercise is fine,but while they are growing and developing,you could damage his joints by over exercising him. good luck,Regards Maggie.

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Maggie Murray
Rottweiler Specialist Judge
New Zealand

[Nancy Estes]

I would agree with the previous posts in that it's *iffy* at best on a level bite at this age correcting to scissors. However, it CAN happen. Keep your fingers crossed, etc. But, do check down the side of the mouth - basically you should be seeing *peak-to-valley* rather than seeing the pointed ends of the upper teeth meeting the pointed ends of the lower teeth. Sort of simplified explanation. If you do not have the peak-to-valley, the length of the upper and lower jaws do not match, no matter what the front of the mouth looks like. I've never had a Rottweiler correct after this age but I do know of other breeds that have so there's no reason to think it's not possible for a Rott to correct. As far as the hockiness goes, sometimes it is just a gangly puppy phase. If it persists into adulthood & the hips are good, it can be corrected to some extent by exercise. But the exercise has to be kept up or the weakness will reappear. A lot of time this is something you will find with overangulation of the rear and something you just have to live with if you prefer that type of rear angulation. Good luck with both ends!

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo@hotbot.com

[Nancy Estes]

As to the head type & bad bites - I've had dogs go undershot or level that had long muzzles. So, the short muzzle does not necessarily make a dog prone to level or undershot. In my experience it's been about 50/50 long muzzle/short muzzle = undershot or level. The worst undershot I had was one w/ a long muzzle, as was the next worst undershot. And one a dog, the other a bitch. Also, a dog that appears to be level can really be undershot. If the lower canines lock w/ the large outside upper incisors the lower jaw can bow downward instead or growing forward. Then you actually have an undershot bite rather than the level you see. You can feel the downward bowing of the jaw, sometimes even see it.

As far as specials w/ pink mouths, etc., do they have any outstanding virtues? As Maggie posted elsewhere, perhaps we should be looking for outstanding virtues rather than seeing only faults. And I won't argue that there are dogs out there that have faults and also do not have any outstanding virtues; to me this = mediocre, which I see too much of. But that is another topic!

Nancy



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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo@hotbot.com

[Maggie]

Hi Michele, In regards to your question,yes there are alot of dogs out there with in-correct bites,missing teeth and the pink mouths. When judging you have to evaluate the whole picture,as I have said in earlier posts,THEIR ARE NO FAULTLESS DOGS,so you have to weigh everything up and not fault judge. Also you can only judge what you have there on the day. If I had an outstanding speciman in the ring and he had a pink mouth and all the other dogs were very average,then I would put up the dog with the pink mouth,now dont get me wrong, I personally hate pink mouths as Ive been very lucky and have dark mouths and you get very used to seeing that,but when breeding, judging or observing you must look at the overall picture of the dog,what worries me more than anything is the very very mediocre specimans being constantly bred,this is the road to losing breed type. Regards maggie.

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Maggie Murray
Rottweiler Specialist Judge
New Zealand

[Michele Baxter]

Just to add my experience...I've had friends who the same things happened with three!! show prospect puppies they acquired (different lines and breeders!) She thinks she's cursed with the "bad bite curse"!!! Both males had large strong heads with a lot of underjaw-it makes me wonder is this something that CAN be prone to happen in a particular head type??Anyone else seen this? The only bite I have seen correct to scissors is an overshot bite. Since the lower jaw is the slowest developing, it eventually caught up to the upper jaw. Just to throw out a question...when speaking with other breeders and judges at shows recently the discussion came up that not enough emphasis is placed on correct bite, missing teeth, and correct mouth and eye pigment. Do you find this to be true also in your experience? Our breed standard is very specific in all of these traits, but it seems I see more and more dogs in the BOB ring with pink mouths, light eyes, and incorrect bites/missing teeth. Any comments?

[Michele Baxter]

Thanks for the comments guys! Yes, I understand what you're saying about judging the whole dog, but like you said when you have a mediocre dog with these types of faults it really makes you wonder where these folks are headed with their breeding programs! If you can't have these basic breed traits, then what do you sacrifice next? Gait, topline, ??? Just wondering if people are seeing the same things I am in the breed ring.

[Maggie]

Hi Michele,yes this is a world wide problem,and unfortunately I dont see it getting any better,which is very bad for the breed. I personally dont show at the all breeds very much, I adore my speciality shows with the european judges as they have a much better understanding of our breed. Im not knocking the all breeds ring, I just choose to put my dogs under the breed experts,as opposed to someone who is not really that interested in this breed.

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Maggie Murray
Rottweiler Specialist Judge
New Zealand