Narrow lower jaw?

[Calimom]

I remember reading about this and that having a puppy chew and carry around a rubber ball was prescribed to help open up the jaw a bit. Sorry I can't cite a reference and I'm not a breeder, just a doodle owner.

You can barely see the red ball in Cali's mouth, but I think this is what they meant. It's heavier than a tennis ball, so may be more affective. Just conjecture on my part.

[emilee]

when kumo was a little puppy, his lower baby (deciduous) canines were growing straight up and poking into the roof of his mouth, instead of angled outward like they're supposed to. our vet referred us to a veterinary dentist, who removed the baby teeth and prescribed "ball therapy" for when his adult teeth started to grow in.

basically, you encourage the dog to play with a large-ish hard rubber ball, and it acts kindof like an orthodontic retainer pushing on the teeth so they grow into the right position.

this is from an earlier post where i wrote a bit more about our experience with kumo and the vet dentist:

we went to a veterinary dentist with kumo when he was a little puppy, on the advice of our vet. his bottom baby canines were growing in at the wrong angle and had started to pierce the roof of his mouth. apparently this is a common problem among breeds with long, narrow snouts like poodles. the vet dentist put him under and removed the baby canines, so they wouldn't cause any more damage and to make room for the adult teeth to grow in normally. fortunately for us, the baby teeth don't have very strong roots, and the surgery cost about $450.

then we had to do "ball therapy" with kumo as his adult canines came in to make sure they ended up at the proper angle, outwards away from the gum line. "ball therapy" consisted of having kumo chew on a large-ish hard rubber ball for 10 minutes like 4 times a day -- i am not joking, the vet dentist even gave us a scientific paper describing the technique -- so that the ball would push the canines outward as they were growing in and the root was solidifying. kindof the same principle as an orthodontic retainer, i guess. it totally worked too -- his adult teeth are just fine. if they had grown in the same way as the baby teeth, we were facing the same kind of surgery mija might have to have.

the vet dentist made a comment during our initial consultation about how he was glad to be doing a procedure that was about health and quality of life rather than for cosmetic reasons. i was like, "what do you mean cosmetic reasons? who would want cosmetic dental work for their dog??" he told us that most of his practice is fixing the teeth on show dogs! i was really surprised to hear that -- i would have thought that kind of thing was against the rules or something.

the whole thread can be found here:
http://labradoodle-dogs.net/forums/view ... hp?p=97191

there's also a related thread here:
http://labradoodle-dogs.net/forums/view ... p?p=125727

-em

[emilee]

well, i don't know anything about dog genetics, so i can't really say anything about that one. as for why your vet might not have caught it, i doubt it presents much of a problem for puppies, and they're usually not the most patient (or still) when people try to look inside their mouths when they're very young! the baby canines are small compared to the adult ones, and even though kumo's were growing straight up and making a small depression in the roof of his mouth, it wasn't creating a sore or cutting into the tissue or anything. it only becomes a real problem when the adult canines push into the roof of the mouth -- there are some pretty gross pictures of this out there on the internet. google "base narrow canines" if you're interested in looking at them.

my guess is most of these problems correct themselves naturally when the adult teeth come in. we just took the conservative (and more expensive) route and had the baby teeth extracted. i think you're right that some vets are more concerned about this than others.

here's a fairly informative web page with info about all kinds of dental problems dogs can present:

http://www.dentalvet.com/patients/ortho ... ontics.htm

you might try to find a vet dentist in your area (or even online) who might be willing to answer some questions regarding the genetics question...

-em

[M&Tdoodles]

WOW EMILEE VERY INFORMATIVE SITE. MY DOGS BITS ARE GOOD, NOTHING UNUSUAL, TG!

I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF A NARROW JAW BEING A PROBLEM. WE HAVE HAD 37 PUPS AND NONE HAS HAD THIS PROBLEM.
HOPEFULLY THIS WONT BE A PROBLEM FOR LIL KODA IN THE FUTURE...

[M&Tdoodles]

YEAH HAPPY ENDING!!!
I would have done the same....worry worry worry , we as good dog breeders do this well don't we!!!! Always something...but in this case it was nothing...good fortune..