overbites - Page 2

Hi Mysti, kind of thought you might be feeding raw. When feeding raw it is very hard to maintain the proper calcium:phosphorous ratio in the pups diet that is so important for proper bone and joint development. Raw diets often are too high in phosphorous. When feeding raw you literally have to become a nutritionist and very well educated about the subject. I tried it - for convenience sake using a prepacked frozen food that at least on the label seemed very balanced with fruits and veggies and supplements and had gotten got reviews from local breeders and owners who had been feeding it. But, surprise, the company is no longer in business, and before they went under I had already decided that there really was no real benefit to feeding that way. Instead I constantly come across too many accounts of various problems this diet causes and one thing I would never do is gamble on a pups nutrition. During the whole growth phase you create the building blocks of good health in the adult life. So I stick to something proven and recommend that route to others as well. Not all large breed puppy formulas are actually a good choice. Royal Canin's large breed puppy for example is way too rich for a GSD. Their special GSD formula works quite well for a lot of people, personally I have never fed it, but have a 3 months trial scheduled to see just how well it works. There is a whole range of good dog foods out there. Personally I recommend Eaglepack. Do a search of this message board for it and you can read up on some older post about this food. Their website is www.eaglepack.com, they have a store locator on their site. Right now, put your pup on the Original Adult Formula. And for the first month, no treats. Use the kibble as treats for training etc. http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins.search?s=eaglepack&b=AND&r=25

I had my dpuppy on Royal canine and he was scrawny with yucky poop...then per DH suggestion I switched to Eagle pack and before the first bag was through, he gained weight and his coat got healthy looking and he loves it....I would highly reccommend it.

A severe overbite (where lower canines actually touch the hard palate) will not correct. Otherwise, I agree with DH about different growth rates of the upper and lower jaws. Even veterinarians may be unaware of this fact and cause puppy owners to panic. A normal overbite will ususally correct once the upper and lower canine teeth are in (typically, by ~7 months). Occasionally, the teeth are not in correct occlusion until after the dog is a year old.

I think the important factor is the "bite" at 6 to 8 weeks. If it is proper scissor at that time during growth it may be off 1/8 to perhaps nearly 1/4 inch I would be confident, from experience, mine and others, by about 1 year it will be back to scissor. If bites are bad at 6 to 8 weeks I believe it is any one's guess and I would not venture. Morgan

Mysti, I am interested what is happened with your dog bite. Now is pass nine months from your post and the head growing phase is in the finalization period so did you have luck or not?

I would also be interested to know. I just saw an 8 month puppy at a show with a noticible overbite, I had tatooed this puppy at 7 weeks, she was normal then. The judge said there was still a small chance that she could develop normally but not much chance as by 8 months it should have corrected. He gave this puppy not promising¿ becaus eof this.

Oso 1. did your dog have correct upper and lower jaw length and problem is in teeth positioning 2. did your dog have only short in length lower jaw 3. did your dog have proportional smaller lower jaw in length and wideness and in a case if you imagine that you magnify proportional all lower jaws could teeth comes in proper position 4. where canine teeth take place

Amir, this dog is not mine, I only saw her twice, the first time as a small puppy to tattoo (when the bite was normal) and recently at the show when the judge looked at her I only looked briefly but I think the problem did look to be in jaw length rather than teeth positioning, she has her canines. Out of interest I will try to follow up and find out how she develops.

Yes, his overbite did go away and he has a normal bite now. But he has one bad hip so I won't be breeding or showing him. Mysti

I am interested how much time pass to become normal bite and what was problem like if you can remember: 1. did your dog have correct upper and lower jaw length and problem is in teeth positioning 2. did your dog have only short in length lower jaw 3. did your dog have proportional smaller lower jaw in length and wideness and in a case if you imagine that you magnify proportional all lower jaws could teeth comes in proper position 4. where canine teeth take place 5. did your dog have high speed unproportional growth and where he finished mature he become very strong - strong jaws and head, strong bones 6. how looks his bite at 6 to 8 weeks 7. did your dog do not like to chew and bite things like bones Thanks for answer in advance