Overshot - Page 1

Hi all

I know there has been a few threads on overshot bites, but would like everyone who has experience to please take a look at my pup and his mouth.  I first noticed the overshot at 4 months.  He is now 7 months and below a picture of what his mouth currently looks like. It may be my imagination, but I think there has been a small bit of movement in the mouth since 4 months.  The gap is no more than 1/4 of an inch (5mm).  I was hoping someone can give me an idea of what the chances are that it will correct and by what age?  He is a heavy boned male.  Here is his pedigree. http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/dog.html?id=1842075

What concerns me more than the overbite is that it doesn't look like a scissor bite.  Is the bottom canine behind the top one?  I spoke to a judge recently about bites and he said that most judges will overlook a slight overbite when it is just cosmetic, as long as the dog does have a correct scissor bite.  Technically a dog can pass a breed survey missing certain teeth.  However if the bite is not a scissor bite, that's a bigger problem both functionally and for conformation.

I would be interested to see the bottom lips pulled back.  Where are the bottom canines at?  It almost looks like he could be base narrow canines.  Not much help in regards to a GSDs mouth growth rate but in my breed (ACDs) I would be concerned about that bite at that age.  Not saying it will not fix itself but it would concern me.

If the bottom canines are still coming in, this might correct itself. If the bottom canines are already in and behind the top canine.... not so sure.

My dog has a similar degree of overbite.  The bite appears scissor,
from the front view and as I don't show him I had not looked too
closely in the first few months I had him here.  He had it at 4 months,
at his home kennel, when I remember I expressed hope to his breeder
that it might improve as he grew up, but she didn't think it would.  

She was right.  He wasn't destined to be my dog @ that time.  
I "2nd-homed" him at 17 months, having completely forgotten about 
what I'd noticed when he was a pup.  Had his hips done;  booked
him for his Survey, the (UK) Surveyor  spotted the overshot jaw and failed
him, mainly because of it.  (He started limping too so she could not
assess his gait properly either).

He is ten now, he still has the same degree of overbite.  It has not
improved, but neither has he had any problems with eating anything.

He does not appear to be closely related to yours, although of similar
breeding, so no clues there.  Hope this helps in some small way ?

The bottom canines are out and is almost next the top canine on the inside of it.  If you look closely you'll see it just sticking out behind the top canine.  The rest of the bottom teeth are all on the inside of the top ones and it seems the bottom jaw is underdeveloped and narrower than the top one.  Is this what base narrow canines are?
Thanks Hundmutter, any small bit of information helps at this stage.

I would not expect that to correct itself entirely in the time you have left, however, it may improve slightly, to where you may not have major problems as far as functionality. My concern is the bottom canines hitting the roof of his mouth and/or his top canines, creating problems down the road. 

Hi Aliana,

Yes, it sounds like base narrow canines but I would have a vet confirm.  Here is some info on base narrow:  http://www.veterinarydentalcenter.com/base.htm If you do a search on this forum you will find some discussions on it.  I had some obsessive concerns about my young male having it.  He had a normal bite as a puppy but his lower canines were slow coming in and when they did they came in on the inside of his puppy canines hence my concern but he turned out fine.