I looked at a 6 wk old puppy last night. Boston Terrier. Female. Her head
was disproportionatley large in relation to the rest of her body. The dam
and sire had this trait also. Or maybe it is just a Boston trait. Her
little bite was disturbing. Her lower jaw was at least 5-6mm recessed
behind the upper jaw. Her personality and vigor were outstanding, but the
overbite bugged me and I declined bringing her home. What is the rate of
growth for maxillary and mandibular growth? Does the lower jaw grow faster
or more than the upper, therefore in a reasonable amount of time, say by
adolesence, the jaws would have had an end to end, or normal bite?
Reason for my question, I had a pup once who had an underbite. When she was
just a baby, the lower jaw was just barely protruding past the upper.
Teeth, top and bottom touched, but the lower jaw was the leader. As this
pup aged and grew, it was if her lower jaw took a life of it's own and grew
way past the upper. Like close to 3/8". Small dog, only 14 lbs at one year
old. Very noticeable. She had no problems, it was so ugly it was cute, but
now I am more attentive.
Thanks.
Perry
bentcajungirl

"bentcajungirl" wrote in message
...
I looked at a 6 wk old puppy last night. Boston Terrier. Female. Her
head
was disproportionatley large in relation to the rest of her body. The dam
and sire had this trait also. Or maybe it is just a Boston trait. Her
little bite was disturbing. Her lower jaw was at least 5-6mm recessed
behind the upper jaw. Her personality and vigor were outstanding, but the
overbite bugged me and I declined bringing her home. What is the rate of
growth for maxillary and mandibular growth? Does the lower jaw grow
faster
or more than the upper, therefore in a reasonable amount of time, say by
adolesence, the jaws would have had an end to end, or normal bite?
Reason for my question, I had a pup once who had an underbite. When she
was
just a baby, the lower jaw was just barely protruding past the upper.
Teeth, top and bottom touched, but the lower jaw was the leader. As this
pup aged and grew, it was if her lower jaw took a life of it's own and
grew
way past the upper. Like close to 3/8". Small dog, only 14 lbs at one
year
old. Very noticeable. She had no problems, it was so ugly it was cute,
but
now I am more attentive.
Thanks.
Perry
bentcajungirl

Talk to your vet. I just passed up a puppy because my vet told me it can
cause problems later. This pup was about 5 weeks old when we noticed it and
were told that it most likely will stay that way it's entire life, no
growing out of it. Boston's could be different, I suppose, so it would be
best to ask your vet.

René