Hello. I got a bloodhound as a show prospect and have come across an issue. Already have discussed it with the breeder and there is nothing on either parents side but my pup went undershot. She was the runt of the litter. It isn’t the worst underbite I have seen but it’s still an underbite. She is 7 months old now and I love her dearly but am worried my goals of showing her in the future may be non existent. I’ve heard from some people that Bloodhounds heads grow so much there’s a chance she’ll grow out of it in her growth spurts and not to worry but I find myself obsessing over it CONSTANTLY and quite honestly I’m driving myself crazy with worry. I know that she can still be shown for fun since it is not a DQ but still, it’s much harder to get a CH on her. It’s a shame because aside from this she’s got an amazing temperament and amazing structure... I would never return her to the breeder and will love her till the day she dies because she’s is my dog, my friend. Has anyone ever had a pup go undershot and come out of it or is it pretty set in stone that she’ll stay undershot? I do not want her in pain and know orthodontics are a possibility but once I do that I definitely can’t show her and if there’s a chance she’ll come out of it on her own I want to give it a shot rather than ruining our dreams of entering the ring. But if there’s no chance of coming out of it then I guess I need to do what I need to do to prevent any pain or discomfort.
Under KC rules, it is actually illegal to correct imperfect dentition - though I'm sure it must go on. I'm sure it would come under the rules regarding the alteration of a dog's appearance. As problems like this usually surface again in the next generation, it is not really to be recommended anyway. In theory, a slightly undershot bite might possibly improve, but in practice it would be unusual, as the lower jaw continues to grow for longer than the upper one. I'm sorry but I have to ask - if you knew that you wanted a Bloodhound for showing, what made you select the runt of the litter?
I stated at the bottom of my Comment that I know if I did corrective stuff on her that she’d be ineligible to show. I wanted to make that very clear. I wouldn’t ever do anything that would be “illegal” in the AKC guidelines. And I know anything along those lines means no showing. I know breeders in all breeds that do shady stuff like that but I won’t be one of them. I did not select the puppy. The breeder selected the puppy for me.
I'm surprised that a breeder would pick runt of litter as a show prospect and the breeder should have noticed this prior to selling.
Thanks for explaining. I just wanted to be clear - other people do read these pages. A 'normal' undershot jaw should not cause any pain or discomfort. Occasionally a bad case can lead to the placement of the canine teeth causing a problem, but typical cases cope perfectly well. As a former Cavalier breeder, I have seen quite a lot of unintentionally undershot dogs. The problems tend to arise when a breed with a deliberate underbite has an excessively long lower jaw.
She did not have an undershot jaw when she first came to me. It only went undershot when she was in the middle of teething.
