I'm new to Belgian World, but not the breed. I now have my third Groenendael. The other two died of old age, and were good representations of the breed.
This time around, I wanted something very special.
So, I acquired a male puppy from a very reputable breeder, one of the best in our country and highly recommended. I had requested a puppy I could compete in confirmation with, along with agility and obedience.
My 4 month old puppy is everything you would want in a Belgian, with one problem. His bite is open. He has an overbite.
I noticed a slight open mouth upon his arrival at 9 wks. and I knew something was up, but at the time, it was not as pronounced.
I spoke with the breeder a couple of months ago, and mentioned the jaw issue, and her response was that the jaw will grow for up to 2 years, and for me not to be concerned.
Also, I should mention his snout is long.
Is there anyone one on this forum, who has had a jaw issue that has corrected itself? Is it typical for the Belgians with the longer snouts to have abnormal growth patterns, or this problem? And has anyone ever heard of an open jaw continuing to grow, and close?
Please don't ask me who the breeder is, or the bloodlines, they are some of the very best available today in the USA.
By the way no matter what the outcome, he's staying with me. I'll just be disapointed in that one aspect of his career.
I know that it corrects itself a bit but if it is this obvious at this age I doubt that it will correct itself to scissor or even level bite.
Saskia
Logged
He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
How much of an overbite is it? As Saskia said, if it is significantly overshot, I wouldn't count on it correcting itself. However if its just a quarter of an inch or so, give it some time. The bottom jaw does finish growing last so you cannot be certain about a bite until after a year. Even then, some dogs go level when they get older if their scissor bite is super tight. How tight was it at 9 wks? Again, the best predictor for if it will correct is how it was at (closest to) 8 wks. Just wait on your pup and see .....
I am curious of a picture of the situation of his jaws/teeth at this moment. Do you have one? My Laekenois had a little bit of an overbite (but not very obvious) when she didn't have her adult teeth yet, but that vanished when she got her adult teeth. So it can change, but I think (as well as the people who reacted before me) that it all depends on how big the difference is between the upper and lower jaw.
The bottom front are about an 1/8th of an inch behind right now, matter of fact, it seems to me the gap has closed a little since I posted my message. Visually you don't notice anything until you open his mouth.
The incissors have remained in the correct position, even though at this time those haven't been replaced with adult teeth.
His snout experienced a major growth spurt last month. The vet. even laughed at it. Thanks for all your responses.
How much of an overbite is it? As Saskia said, if it is significantly overshot, I wouldn't count on it correcting itself. However if its just a quarter of an inch or so, give it some time. The bottom jaw does finish growing last so you cannot be certain about a bite until after a year. Even then, some dogs go level when they get older if their scissor bite is super tight. How tight was it at 9 wks? Again, the best predictor for if it will correct is how it was at (closest to) 8 wks. Just wait on your pup and see .....
Author
Logged
