my friend is heartbroken as her 4 month pup is undershot  i look at her and her pup and say THERE FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I  as i have a 10 week old pup and i,m now on tenderhooks waiting to see how she will be Is there ANYTHING i could or should NOT let her do to help prevent it happening ?

I don't believe there is anything anyone can do to prevent this at all! However, I also believe that generally, what a pups mouth is like at 6 weeks, is how it will generally end up at adulthood, and inbetween times will alter accordingly. Maybe others have a different perspective?? All the best, Dawn

I would stop looking for now as the jaw continues growing and you would be surprised at how the bite can  finish up. I was told by a very experienced breeder in Afghans not to look at the mouth as all sorts of things can happen while the pup is growing.

it,s just someone told me not to let the pup pull and tug on things well she does just that with her toys ..her mums ears..my slippers and anyones trousers she fancy,s So are these things a NONO? can anyone enlighten me please i just would hate to be allowing her to do the wrong things she also loves to chew on a marrow bone and as she,s not a good eater i let her

Well, I wouldn't worry about letting her tug toys or other stuff, as long as she isn't 'hanging' from the trees the way I see people training their pitbulls round here! Just don't be overly excessive with pulling or tugging toys with her as you might catch a tooth or two and have an effect on the tooths position. All the best, Dawn

I'm not sure I understand. Is this because you plan to show the dog?  Doesn't seem particularly fair to stop a pup chewing and playing with toys etc. Not sure it would make a difference anyway.

A puppy tugging ordinarily will NOT affect a mouth, I just wouldn't use excessive force to 'rag' a tug with her is all. Normal chewing or gnawing bones will NOT affect a pups mouth, usually as Val said it's hereditary. Using too much force to tug with her MAY affect the tooth alignment, but normal chewing etc will not, all the best, Dawn

Hi Dawn,

I understood your post :) It was the one above you I was replying to - you weren't there at the time :P

What I meant was why were they thinking of denying the dog natural behaviours in the hope that it might result in better teeth (for want of a better phrase). If it's just for the sake of showing, surely a happy dog is better than a miserable dog with a hollywood smile ---> :D

(I know you say ordinary tugging and chewing won't matter, but it seemed from the post that that's what the OP was worried about and thinking of stopping).

Not sure I make much sense today

Ohh sorry Zarah...if I had me intelligent 'ead on I would have realise you were replying to that poster if I 'ad 'it the button on the top right of yer post!!! But you can't expect me to have BRAINS and BEAUTY can yer??? :P

Structure is hereditary and so the only thing that you can do to prevent it is thorough research behind both parents.

My 2yr old bichon Geordi's show career was cut short at 8 months when he went undershot, there wasn't anything I could have done about it, his litter sister and both parents all have beautiful mouths and it wasn't something the breeders were worried about - I was just unlucky. Although I think his slightly shorter muzzle had an effect, my latest boy Oscar has a slightly longer muzzle than his brother but I was soooo worried about his bite going the same way. His breeder banned me from looking in his mouth for two months! When I did peek.. hey presto a lovely set of adult teeth - a long sigh of relief from me that day :D :D
Its amazing how much the teeth can change as puppies grow, try not to worry.  :)

his litter sister and both parents

Judging by the parents isn't good enough.  It tends to skip a generation (or two) and then appears again. :(  It will be in the line.  It's just a matter of finding where it is.

Of course, but an undershot dog would simply not have been shown or used in the breeding programme. He was very carefully bred. Even if by some small miracle he had done well in the showring, he would never have been used at stud because of this - not something we would wish to re-introduce! :)

but an undershot dog would simply not have been shown or used in the breeding programme
Certainly but a sibling with a good mouth who is carrying the bad mouth gene may well have been. :(

Bad mouths seem to be particularly difficult to fix once they are in the line. :(  But my research I mean asking each breeder what difficlties they have had with each litter, which is why choosing a stud dog is even more difficult if you only use dogs bred by open and honest breeders who take enough interest to keep in touch with all of each litter that they produce. :( ;)

If I had produced a bad mouth, I'd be contacting the breeders of each dog until I found the culprit so that I didn't produce the same problem again. ;)  It's such a shame when the rest of the dog is good! :(

Tell me about it as he is flippin lovely otherwise! - its such a shame. And believe me we (my breeders/mentors etc) are all well and truly on the case to find where it came from! The health of our breed is all important. It was only recently discovered that a lot of pigmentation problems that we'd been battling for years stemmed from a dog (very multi ticketed) who's owners had been painting his nose for years! :(  :rolleyes: (they've now retired) But only now, maybe 10 years on are his lines recovering :)

It's surely Geordi's dams side somewhere (his brother that I have has a different dam) - we'll find the culprit! :)

Well done.  It's the only way forward! ;)  It's not easy when some breeders are strangers to the truth! :(  And another reason why well meaning folk mating a pet bitch can't have a clue what they are producing. :(

Absolutely :) I only have dogs at the moment, I've had two people with pet bitches approach me to ask if they can use either of my boys.. you can guess my answer!! :D