i was to receive shipment of my Goldendoodle tomorrow. Just got a phone call saying she has an overbite. I just lost a beloved older dog due to genetic breeding issue, and I cannot go thru that again. I have pics to show my vet tomorrow. Unless he can give me guarantee that it will self correct, I will need to refuse this precious puppy and search again :(
Generally I agree with Ghilly here, BUT it can be a problem and depends entirely on the severity. 99% chance it is very manageable but see your answer in the Ask A Veterinarian forums:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Dentistry/I-am-in-a-dilema/show/1022637
If it's only a slight difference, I wouldn't worry about it at all, I would bring the puppy home and love him endlessly. I can understand the breeder wanting to warn you about it, this way if and when a vet pointed it out to you, you wouldn't be able to say that you had been unaware of it, but like I said, unless it is severe, it shouldn't ever be an issue anywhere but the conformation show ring, which, again, is not a worry with a dog that's not a purebred. Just enjoy him! Puppies are such a blast!
Thanks for keeping us posted. I look forward to hearing more about him, and hopefully seeing a picture soon!
Ghilly
We don't actually have the puppy yet. We get it in a week. I guess the lower jaw is slightly smaller than the upper and the vet said in general the lower jaw grows slower and it might fix itself. I will try keep people posted.
I wouldn't worry about it. Seriously. A golden doodle is not a purebred dog, so it cannot be shown, therefore it's not like the overbite is going to affect it adversely in the show ring. I wouldn't breed the dog, but then, I wouldn't breed a mixed breed anyway, therefore it shouldn't be a consideration genetically speaking as it relates to passing it along to offspring.
Unless this puppy is shark-jawed (where the bottom jaw is a half inch or more shorter than the top jaw), it shouldn't affect it all that much at all. Being shark-jawed can cause the puppy to develop sores on the roof of its mouth because the lower fang teeth don't fit where they should, and they can end up irritating the roof of the mouth. But again, unless it's serious, this shouldn't be a problem either.
The bottom line is NO dog is perfect. Unless this dog is so deformed as to suffer from health problems because of the overbite, it will be able to be a perfectly healthy, lovable pet. Unless the dog has trouble eating because of it, I wouldn't bother starting any extensive, expensive dental work. Just be careful, because there are people out there who, if they think they can convince you that this MUST be done, will go above and beyond to fix the dental problems on this puppy, and it could get to be almost as expensive as getting orthodontic braces for a child.. If a small imperfection doesn't bother you, and it doesn't bother the dog, I would ignore it and just love the puppy for who he is.
Can you get a photo (side view) of the puppy and post it? I'd be interested to see just how bad this overbite is.
Ghilly