Chihuahua Crossing Forum Closed

Good luck Tina. All the bite problems I've had have gotten worse. One underbite corrected a bit and then went back out. I don't know enough to tell you what will happen with your boys, but I hope you do better!

Tina - this is just what i've heard, my opinion or what i've experienced :)  That being said.   Bites go off and on for up to a year (so i'm told) - a lot can depend on jaw development.   Leaving retained baby teeth in can cause the bite to go off.   Some, not all, underbites are not hereditary.
This has been my experience so far with bites.  Bought 1 boy - knew he had underbite but was very short nose.  Hoping that it was jaw hadn't  fully developed and that was exactly the case.  Now at almost a year - he has a perfect bite. 
Girl with good bite when got her, went off at 6 months and is still off (but just slightly) as underbite.
Girl that was good bite - but had retained baby teeth.  Waited til 6 months to have them pulled - she now has a slight underbite (cases like this are not hereditary)
My last girl i got at a year has very slight underbite and crooked teeth :(   Vet says she will be fine to breed as it was improper tooth care when she was younger that caused this problem and it is not hereditary.

There are show tricks for slight underbites for up to a year - you just push on bottam jaw ever so slightly few times a day.  I do it while i'm sitting with pups watching tv.  PLEASE DON'T do show trick of using elastic bands on pups teeth (not that you would ever try it but don't let anyone talk you into it)  They actually do make doggy braces now LOL but this is elastic trick is an old trick some showers do using their own elastics - gums can get cut and infections can be caused.  The pressure I do on the jaw is just very light - can't say it works, can't say it doesn't :)   I was told that trick by many breeder/handlers as a way to work jaw into correct position for better bite :)

Hope this helps a little :)

No, they don't usually need baby teeth to guide permanent in - they usually just get in the way.  My little girl who i didn't pull til after 6 months had a permanent in the back that end up coming in sideways because baby tooth wouldn't move.  If we had left it, tooth eventually could have gone into her cheek and caused pain.  Now that baby tooth is out, it's moving it's way back in.

I'm not expert, and i'm certainly not vet, but from way you describe Hurley's, it sounds like from baby teeth.  that's what happened to my girl above.  The slight underbite she has now after teeth is almost like a reverse scissor.  If I open her mouth as if to show her bite and leave teeth slightly apart - it looks like she has perfect bite - it's just when she clenches down it looks like it's reversed :)

I think it's a matter of personal choice as to when to pull them.  Some say if you don't do it before 6 months, it will throw bite off.  Other's think it's better to wait til older to see if they come out on own.  I'm not real sure :(

Good luck

Oh good luck Tina...I hope all turns out well....bites seem to be the biggest problem lately with everyone...even my Sofie has a slight overbite...which is better for the "show ring" than a underbite from what I have been told....breeding for these small snouts...I think is not helping this problem.....good luck and I hope it works out

Thanks Jen:) I am hoping his genes kick in after we have the baby teeth pulled and all corrects itself...Everyone keeps telling me his top will catch up with his bottom and that it may even go back and forth before everything settles in...

He still gives amazing kisses so it will all be ok...teehee:)