Hi,

Just interested to know if this is common. My 7mth retriever has always had a pronounced bone at the back/top of his head but in the last couple of weeks has got much more noticeable. The vet did say that all is fine, it is to do with his jaw bone but it is just larger than average but from the side of him, he looks quite odd, it is sort of the size of a golf ball when he has his ears flat. (sorry quite hard to describe!) Will his head shape change as he gets older? We are pondering on putting him to stud in the future, but am wondering if this would be hereditary. Any info much appreciated.

It's the occiput, and yes his head will change quite alot as he matures.

Dawn R.

Thank you! Couldnt remember the name the vet used but have now searched under occiput and found much more info.

Just to say, please don't think about stud work at the moment -you are cleary a novice and your pup is a baby, and a LOT has to fall in place before you should even consider such thoughts, such as your boy doing well at either championship shows or field trials, his hip and elbow scores being good, his eyes tested clear every year etc. There's a lot of Goldens out there and only the best should be bred from -many others end up being bred with poor health and poor temperaments as a result -and stud work is not for the novice as it isn't easy. There's a good post here:
http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/55104.html

I don't mean this in a unfriendly way at all, just wanted to point out it's very premature to think along these lines. :)