# 6 week old puppy has undershot jaw



## Lab-lover

I've just noticed one of my pups has a slight undershot jaw. All the others in the litter are fine and previous litters I've bred have all had the correct scissor bite. 

Does anyone have any knowledge/experience of this in a young pup? Do you think it is possible it could correct itself when the adult teeth come through? I feel gutted for the poor little girl, she has a beautiful bone structure and is perfect in every other way.


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## Guest

If it's an undershot jaw i think it's doubtful it will correct itself.In my breed they very rarely do.

It's still an iffy time when second teeth come through as what was a perfect mouth can go undershot then.
I had a bitch who had perfect puppy teeth/mouth and her mouth went undershot at 5 months old.

Sorry but I doubt it will right itself.


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## tashi

I agree with Sallyanne on this one so sadly I think she will always be undershot the best you can hope for I think is a level bite


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## clueless

Agree with Sallyanne,so not think it will right itself


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## pkb1

the last part of a dog to stop growing is the bottom jaw so i wouldnt be too hasty, obviously if its a real parrot overbite then,no, it will never be right, but you are more likely to get a level bite from a perfect mouth at 8 weeks than vice versa, i'd not worry too much at this stage
P.


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## cav

yes also agree with sally....


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## Guest

I also agree with Sally - I've seen a slightly overshot jaw correct itself on many occasions, but I've never seen an undershot jaw correct itself - sorry!


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## pkb1

how stupid do i feel!.......i evn mentioned the "parrot" mouth and said the bottom jaw was last to grow!...if it wasnt for reading Spellweavers post and seeing UNDERSHOT again it dawned on me i had mis read and turned the whole thing upside down!.....of course if the bottom jaw is the last to stop growing it will get WORSE not better!
i appologise for my missrepresentation of the post, all i can do is blame my M.E. that sometimes makes me think i have read something and its totally wrong or i type and even i cant read it!
so unfortunately i am having to back peddal here and agree with all the other postes.
yours in stupidity
Pauline


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## PoppyLily

i dont personally have any experience with this but my brother-in-law bought a rottweiler puppy that had an overshot jaw. It has kind of corrected itself now - he is 18months old and it is no where near as bad as it was. The vet had orginally told him that he would need teeth removing when his second teeth came through but when he went back to the vets they were happy leaving him as he was. They are going to monitor it throughout his life though.


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## loves_life

hi my mum has recently bought a rott puppy bitch at 6 weeks old who sadly has an undershot jaw too  and i was just wondering what problems will this cause with eating ect and is there any thing i can do to help her ??


Thanks 

bex 
x x


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## dagny0823

Ragnar has an overbite (his top teeth stick out further than his bottom, which I guess equals an undershot lower jaw? I'm so confused with terminology). The vet just said, don't breed him as he could pass it along. I've read there are corrective braces available for dogs, much like a retainer for people who have had braces on their teeth. He's never had a problem, however. He hurts more when he nibbles, as it pinches a little. But he can chew and bite like a normal dog.


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## Blondie

PoppyLily said:


> i dont personally have any experience with this but my brother-in-law bought a rottweiler puppy that had an overshot jaw. It has kind of corrected itself now - he is 18months old and it is no where near as bad as it was. The vet had orginally told him that he would need teeth removing when his second teeth came through but when he went back to the vets they were happy leaving him as he was. They are going to monitor it throughout his life though.


Shows how much the vet knows then doesnt it???

A rotties mouth can 'change' quite a bit in puppyhood, more than some other breeds, best not to panic till adult teeth come in and even then, it can still change up to about 15 months of age.


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## Blondie

loves_life said:


> hi my mum has recently bought a rott puppy bitch at 6 weeks old who sadly has an undershot jaw too  and i was just wondering what problems will this cause with eating ect and is there any thing i can do to help her ??
> 
> Thanks
> 
> bex
> x x


Firstly, not having a go at you or your mum, but 6 weeks old is far too young to be getting a puppy!! 7 and a half to 8 weeks is the norm for a rottie puppy!!

Again, undershot is worse than overshot, but same thing applys, it may well change and end up better or slightly better. Either way, unless you have bought this puppy for Show (in which case, I'd be returning the pup to breeder and wanting money back!) it shouldnt be a problem unless its a huge gap that you can actually fit your finger in.

If the bite remains undershot, you should tell the breeder as the dam and sire shouldnt really be used for breeding again.


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## Maz&Oozy

a while ago I had some experience with a puppy with an undershot jaw.. it didn't correct itself as most of the time it doesn't.

I was told that I must watch the canines as they can go into the soft pallet causing pain and problems, after the puppy was checked by 2 independent vets, we were advised that her canines would have to be removed and then when the adult teeth came thru if same problem which was highly lily, then these would have to be removed too..

this is worse case scenario, but maybe worth getting it checked!

oh also no insurance company would cover it or future treatment, or any other problems with jaw etc,.. which is also worth thinking about.


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## Snoringbear

dagny0823 said:


> Ragnar has an overbite (his top teeth stick out further than his bottom, which I guess equals an undershot lower jaw? I'm so confused with terminology). The vet just said, don't breed him as he could pass it along. I've read there are corrective braces available for dogs, much like a retainer for people who have had braces on their teeth. He's never had a problem, however. He hurts more when he nibbles, as it pinches a little. But he can chew and bite like a normal dog.


If the the top teeth are in front of the bottom teeth with a gap between them it's an overshot jaw, if it's the other way round and the the bottom teeth are in front of the top with a gap between it's an undershot jaw


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## Snoringbear

Having a breed that is required to have an undershot jaw, I've always noticed that the undershot increases with age from puppyhood onwards. I've always been told the jaw is one of the last bones to finish growing. I would guess that an overshot jaw is more likely to correct itself than an undershot one.


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## boohbooh

hi all. i got a chihuahua that a byb had bred, she has the worst overshot i have ever seen, its so bad her bottom jaw is half the size of her top one, shes still very beautiful and has no problems eating as of yet, her second teeth have come in fine. shes now about 1yr 4mths. and doing good.


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## dagny0823

Snoringbear said:


> If the the top teeth are in front of the bottom teeth with a gap between them it's an overshot jaw, if it's the other way round and the the bottom teeth are in front of the top with a gap between it's an undershot jaw


Ok, so my dog has an overshot jaw? And that's what someone above said was worse! Eek! He's still mighty handsome and doesn't have any problems, so I guess I won't worry too much. Thanks for straightening me out though--I'm so confused!


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