Hi everyone,  a little advice would be great, i have always has cocker spaniels i have two at the moment i have just noticed my 7 month old bitch has a kind of overbite, a bit similar to a british bulldog if you like but not so prominent. she has a tiny little mouth as she is very small her top teeth when closed are coming right over her bottom teeth is this a problem or will it maybe sort itself when she is fully grown.  Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Firstly are you sure it's an overbite?
Bulldogs and many other bull breeds are in fact undershot ie have an underbite.

Look here for an explanation... http://www.mudicompass.org/teethandbite.html#ANCHOR_Text2

An overbite is an extreme scissor in several degrees from a 'slack' scissor right through to a so called 'parrot mouth'.

hi toolz,

i think your right think it could be under bite. her bottom teeth fit under her top ones, they seem to meet perfectly at the left side of her mouth but dont at the right side if that makes any sense. x

Yes that's called a wry mouth or twisted jaw.

In an otherwise healthy dog which is not going to be exhibited, a mild case will probably not affect the dog at all.

The important part is to determine whether it is cosmetic or problematic.

Her teeth should meet in a 'scissor bite' - that means the top teeth should be just in front of the bottom ones. Have a look at these images; they make it clearer.

yeah ive looked at the pics and she definetley has an undershot bite not as severe as the ones in the picture and also she is 7 months and i have just noticed it.   It is all pefect along the left side of her teeth until about the middle and then it starts to go off kind of a squint bottom row of teeth and comparing to my other spaniel who has perfect bite it isnt right, she is only 7months and i readf that the jaw is still growing till nine months. Should i take her and get it checked or should i wait and see what happens. what do you think. x

Sounds like a wry mouth and from my experience seldom - if ever comes right.

A vet can confirm this and look for other problems within the mouth caused by this asymetrical formation.

thanks toolz for replying.  Is this heriditary?

Not altogether easy to say because undershot dogs are expected to produce undershot offspring.

But when these incorrect bites appear it is hard to say for sure if it's hereditary or congenital ( an incident in the womb).

I have Setters, my eldest was undershot at 6 months, but was perfect scissor bite by the time he was a year old.  The reason for this is the bottom jaw grows slower than the top (so i was told) being a larger breed though they are slower growing so not sure if it would be the same with your spaniel.

ClaireyS
I have a toy breed, and I know for sure that my mentor had a dog that he kept for show.  The dog was undershot by 6 months, and I know it was some concern.  But, as you say, the jaws grow at different rates.

By the time the dog was a year old, he had a scissor bite.

Whilst I have seen a lower jaw grow after the age of 6 months it would normally do so evenly so this will not correct a mouth the is uneven and I do not think in this pup it is just a matter of growth I think this is a case of a faulty bite that will not improve with growth but may become more exaggerated.

This pup is not undershot from the description...it has a wry mouth - twisted - asymetrical.

I have never seen a wry mouth come right. In Cavaliers the bite changes for up to 2 years - undershots often come right...but NEVER a wry mouth.

Hiya Todd unless you plan to show I wouldn't worry about it too much, with our breed (bull breed) 9 times out of 10 the mouth is undershot, so long as its not too bad then it shouldnt effect the dog that much.