Teeth

[Panama]

I was brushing Hawk's teeth, and it made me think of a foster I had several yrs ago. He was missing teeth. You could lay your finger behind his canines, close his mouth and no tooth touched the finger. Being a foster, I knew nothing about his background or where he came from. Just a thought that popped into my head that made me wonder.

I know the proper dentition / occlusion and that there are supposed to be 20 upper & 22 lower teeth.

Just wondering if there is something you look for in a young pup when they are evaluated. Some dogs don't have their full set of adult teeth until they are around 8 months. How is this evaluated in young pups (8-10 wks)? Is there something to look for when you go and look at a litter or evaluate a litter? And is it enough that the sire & dam and those close behind have full & proper dentition?

[RKCM]

You should look at 6 correctly placed teeth between the canines. Usually a good indication. And yes, the back teeth come in later. Both parents should have correct bites or you will see it again and what can usually be avoided by not breeding dogs with a bad bite. Most breeders that care about the standard will not put a bad bite in their line and thus, with generations of good bites, it is easier to keep those bites right. That's what I have always been told, never had a bad bite in dobermans, common in toys.

[Panama]

Don't recall noticing how many incisors Bishop had, just thought it was weird he had that gap where the 1st (and possibly the 2nd) premolars should've been.

So if they have the correct # of incisors that create a nice scissor bite, there won't (or shoululdn't) be any issues with missing teeth?

[RKCM]

I guess, you could xray the dog to be sure. We have always counted the 6 teeth and not worried about it. It is a recessive gene or from what I understand.