# Puppy teeth/bite alignment



## A.S (Apr 27, 2015)

Hi! 

I am picking up my puppy from Hungary soon and was wondering if any of you have any experience with the milk teeth/bite. My breeder wants our dog to be "perfect" as we will like to use it as a show/stud dog later on and I have now been informed that the bite looks strange to him. :-\

What do you think? Are the incisors too small? Are the canines too far apart? Anything weirdly positioned? 
I have no clue about the puppy bite, only adult one. But that can not really be compared... :-\
The pup is now 13 weeks old. On the last photo he has already lost a couple of the top incisors.

Any info and thoughts much appreciated!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I would think your breeder should know more than just a common vizsla owner, which most of us are on the forum.
I've seen most puppy's teeth go from being perfectly straight and close together, to being spaced apart as their jaws grew to make room for the adult teeth to come in. Once the snaggle tooth stage was over they went back to having a beautiful set of teeth, and a correct bite.
My eyes aren't what they use to be, but I didn't see a under bite in the picture.


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## A.S (Apr 27, 2015)

TexasRed said:


> I would think your breeder should know more than just a common vizsla owner, which most of us are on the forum.
> I've seen most puppy's teeth go from being perfectly straight and close together, to being spaced apart as their jaws grew to make room for the adult teeth to come in. Once the snaggle tooth stage was over they went back to having a beautiful set of teeth, and a correct bite.
> My eyes aren't what they use to be, but I didn't see a under bite in the picture.


I am sure he does. He said himself that he is a bit uncomfortable about the situation in the mouth, he advised the vet and they told him to wait until all the permanent teeth come out, but we are picking him up before that. So I just wandered if anyone here would have anything to say about it. My breeder however said he had until this day many litters but none with a weird bite so he got concerned. I just thought of "double checking" before we fly to get him. 
Thank you for taking a look!


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Is there another breeder or show judge you could have evaluate it? I'd want a second opinion, but would also trust my breeder. I wish we could be more help here.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Most of us fall in love with our pups even if they have a flaw.
If you are set on showing this pup, and would not be happy if his teeth prevented it, maybe you can hold off on picking him up until his adult teeth are in. Another option is if the breeder has another pup from the litter that he thinks would be better suited for show.


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## A.S (Apr 27, 2015)

einspänner said:


> Is there another breeder or show judge you could have evaluate it? I'd want a second opinion, but would also trust my breeder. I wish we could be more help here.


I did consult a breeder stated here in my country who actually told me they would never say something like that to their buyer if it isnt 100%... but I like that my breeder told me... since he was unsure, and he noticed it, it would be wrong to hide it I think. So I guess that shows I can trust him


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## A.S (Apr 27, 2015)

TexasRed said:


> Most of us fall in love with our pups even if they have a flaw.
> If you are set on showing this pup, and would not be happy if his teeth prevented it, maybe you can hold off on picking him up until his adult teeth are in. Another option is if the breeder has another pup from the litter that he thinks would be better suited for show.


I know, I did too. Just from seeing all the photos and videos that he has sent to us 
That is exactly why we will pick him up either way. We waited until 10 weeks to pick the pup. So that they got a lot of time to develop and we had the first pick of the litter. With his help we saw most show potential in this pup. Our breeder actually offered to give us a pup from the next litter in case something would turn out to grow bad. But we will see how it goes I guess..


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

I think that it is something of a crap shoot. About a year ago, when we had feelers out to breeders, in case they got a returned pup, we got an email about one. The "pup" was about a year old and was being returned because its adult teeth had come in "bad" and couldn't be shown. Since the pup had been bought for that purpose, it was taken back. The point being that the breeder was highly regarded and the buyer was also very knowledgeable, but they couldn't predict what the teeth would do.

Bob


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## A.S (Apr 27, 2015)

Bob said:


> The point being that the breeder was highly regarded and the buyer was also very knowledgeable, but they couldn't predict what the teeth would do.


yeah I am afraid you are right... we will just have to take a chance and hope for the best.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

Bob said:


> I think that it is something of a crap shoot. ...


Addendum:
I also want to point out that most teeth come in fine and it's pretty rare for teeth to be "off". Also, that there doesn't seem to be a strong correlation between baby teeth and adult teeth: good baby teeth can lead to bad adult ones & conversely.

Bottom line: I'd say that it's highly unlikely that any malformation in the pup's teeth will transfer to its adult ones.

Bob

CAUTION: The above is very much personal opinion.


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## Ksana (Mar 30, 2013)

Bite alignments can be predicted at age of 8 weeks and the genetics plays the lead role (with other important factors being environmental, nutritional, and mechanical). I find NAVHDA database being useful as they include teeth evaluation records in their records and this information is open to public. By using Vizsla and NAVHDA databases together, one may be able to find a lot of information about the puppy's parents and grand-parents.

Here are a few references I was able to find with a quick search:

http://www.dentalvets.co.uk/docs/BiteAndMalocclusion-VetTimesDec06.pdf

http://www.bmdinfo.org/illustratedbmd/pdf/teeth_berner.pdf

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/mouth/c_dg_Malocclusion_of_Teeth


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