I have a 4-1/2 mo. old GSD and we just noticed that her top jaw is longer than her bottom. She has a great pedigree, we waited for this puppy for about 3 yrs. I have read that I should not worry about it to much until 10 mo. I was wondering if anyone has had this experiance, and maybe could put my mind at ease a little?
It is not uncommon and not something I worry about in a pup. Undershot I worry about a little more...
Quinn had a fairly significant overshot gap, and I had the same thoughts and worries. Somehow, around one year or so, I suddenly found that without my noticing it his bite had corrected and is now almost too level.
You need to give his jaw a chance to grow (and an intact dog will do so to a better degree) into his head. Besides, unless you were planning on showing the pup, it won't make a difference in him.
I don't know that much about puppy development but I can tell you my own experience.
My dog is a mixed breed. He looks a bit like a GSD but has some boxer in him. His mother has an around 1/2 inch underbite.
There were four puppies in his litter. At 8 weeks, two of the pups had scissors bites, one had a level bite and the dog I now own had an underbite. (not a scissors underbite either, there was a bit of a gap).
After he teethed I noticed he had a perfect scissors bite (the correct kind, haha).
So I would say that you don't really know what kind of bite she'll have until she's done teething and growing.
With that said (haha) - is there a reason you're concerned about her bite? Is this a show dog?
IMHO (that is Opinion, not Fact) the major change is teething, followed by how much difference there is in the rate of growth between the lower jaw and the skull, which I would assume is usually minimal.
Long bones are the last to stop growing, so I would say 10-12 months in a med-large breed would be the end of any changes as far as the head goes. I think. It would certainly be breed/size dependent.
My puppy had his scissors bite by 7 months. At 4 1/2 months, though, he would still have had an underbite.
Melissa Thom Webboard User Reg: 12-04-2007
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Dog jaws do some funky stuff as they grow. I have a puppy that I'm watching right now that went from undershot at 5 months , to overshot at 6 months, and now is a perfect scissor minus the retained puppy teeth getting yanked tomorrow.
For now just keep a loose eye on it. I personally don't worry about them until after their first heat on girls.
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Puppy Overshot Jaw
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