Overbite and breed standard weight

After Ana's routine checkup at the vets this afternoon, i was so happy to find that she was as healthy as a 6 month old staffy should be However was a little down hearted after being told that he has an overbite, i hadnt noticed it or even thought to check it after i bought her as she's my first pedigree as i want to show and breed from her, and teeth alignment was the last thing i thought about once my heart had melted and my puppy was in my arms for the first time ( had i noticed i'd still have walked away with her ), however iv always had my fingers in her mouth and trained her for this to be acceptable (we dont have kids and wanted her to understand that sometimes people put things in her mouth but shes not allowed to clamp down,) and its not something iv ever picked up on or ever noticed. After getting home I've looked at the breed standard and it does say that its a fault After hours of research on overbite i've read lots of conflicting information. Some pages say that there is a chance her lower jaw could grow before she reaches 10 months old, one page said that it could correct, but only if the distance between the teeth it about the size of a match head or smaller, and other sites say it wont correct at all. Id say that the distance betwen both sets of teeth are about 1cm. Does anyone know what the chances are of them correcting and how much she will get marked down in show if the rest of her conforms to the breed standard? Having said that the breed standard says that a staffordshire bull terrier bitches weight should be a maximum of 15.4kg, however when i took her to the vets for her checkup she already weighs a whopping 14.7 kilos at 6 months old, she is the right size and build for a bitch of her age from what the vet has said but i really cant see how her weight will conform the breed standard fully grown. Does anyone have any pointers in the right direction for me to have a look at or know anything that will help me? Also i was planning on breeding from her, but again i've read some conflicting information about breeding from her due to the overbite. Some site say a definate no no as she will definately produce pups with an over bite, some say that as there is no overbite in neither her dam or sire it is unlikely that it will be passed down and even less likely if her grandparents dont have the over bite? Everything is just so confusing about it Never the less i still love her to bits and nothing will ever change the bond i have with her, and if showing her and breeding from her isn't an option i'm going to try and agility train her from 1 year old so hopefully she'll be good to show at 2

Sorry to hear that you are feeling down about the news you have been given ... Chiquito also had some teeth troubles (lower jaw inside upper jaw) as a puppy and I know how conflicting the research and opinions I found on it were. Do keep your chin up though - she is happy and healthy and that is what really counts in the end!

Unfortunately I have no experience with an overbite and so can't offer any advice that would clarify this for you. I am sure someone will be along shortly who will be able to help more with this.

In regards to the breeding, there are many, many things to consider if this is a path you are choosing to go down ... have you been involved in breeding before?

I'm sure ana is as cute as a button, sorry to here about her over bite, Like You said theres lots of conflicting information out there, I've no personal experience regarding this but hopefully someone will pop along shortly who can help. Regarding breeding have a read through this :- https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t29736-do-i-need-to-breed

Thanks Darcy:) I was planning on breeding for the right reasons :)what i meant above on the breeding side of things was id like to know if anyone had any information about wether or not the overbite is a default that could potentially pass down into her pups. If I dont get concrete evidence that it doesnt i wont breed from her , and wont breed from her until (or if she is titled) My main priority is to maintain the breed standard and produce quality pups (which if the over bite is a genetic fault and doesnt correct i know could potentially recur in any pups so i definately wouldnt breed from her), at the moment she is tested L2-HGA hereditary clear, and if The over bite does grow out i will have the necessary checks and hip scores done and the HC-HSF4 dna test and the anual eye testing and all litter screenings done :)I have no intentions of becoming a backyard breeder and fully understand the costs incurred. First and foremost she is our beloved pet and her health and safety will always come first, as will the health and standard of any potential pups , I've spoken with her breeder and they said they'd not had problems with any of the other pups that they know of and are looking into it for me :)Does anyone know if it would be advisable to get in touch with owners of her later lines to see if they've had a problem? Iv had a look at her lines and googled some of them on google images and i cant see any obvious signs of an over bite, which i suppose is a good sign (but as im guessing only time will tell) I bought my pup as show quality and would love to offer someone else the same opportunities as I may have with Ana, I've never shown before and this will be my first time training and showing, but already within 4 months of basic training im feeling very proud and very much a team with her. I love her regardless of the overbite we'll just change our direction from breeding and dog showing, and put total focus into agility and flyball if the overbite is going to be a problem for showing and breeding. :)Either way we'll still settle down every night and watch eastenders together  x

Sorry kell hadn't seen your post, no i haven't personally bred before, however i know what is involved as i've stated above, i know its going to be a lot of hard work, blood sweat and tears if we do decide that breeding is a viable option for her and any potential pups. I have a friend that is a kennel club assured breeder and a member of breeding clubs (she doesn't breed staffies), and I got plenty of advice before buying her as a potential for showing and breeding  and I'm currently researching all aspects of breeding as I have over a year yet before making that final decision whether or not to breed from her :)Don't get me wrong if I can't breed from her i will be a little disheartened but its not the be all and end all, as long as she's happy and healthy and im not breeding a defect into the breed im happy

With an overbite you will not be successful in the show ring if the judge knows anything about staffies and it won't correct itself either. Im sorry. My girl was sold to me as having an overbite and not show quality because of it. In her case she was the only one in her litter with it and i was told that she would still be okay to breed from as the chances are her pups may not have an overbite if the dog had good jaws, but the fact of the matter is that it is genetic. If bred, you may got some perfect pups but you may get some with overshot jaws.

By the way, pictures area always required!

I'm gutted when we bought her im pretty sure the jaw was a good alignment id not noticed the change at all to be fair until the vet mentioned it but looking back through her photo's today after getting back from the vets i can see gradual changes since her adult teeth came through and looking back on those last 2 pictures i posted you can definately see it. If when i went to get her id have known she was going to have the overbite i'd have still walked out with her I fell in love instantly i'd just have automatically ruled out the show ring, however i'm told its not a DQ? so as long as the rest of her is perfect she could do ok? I'm no expert in fact im a rather basic novice as iv never shown but would absolutely love to, so in your opinion is it not worth trying at all and just focusing on agility and flyball?

An overshot jaw isn't a disqualifier, neither is an undershot jaw. BUT. Both will be heavily penalised in the showring. And there are so many dogs entered in the shows nowadays that you probably wouldn't stand a chance of being in the cards.

There is a greater than even chance of any pups being similarly affected, I'm afraid, even if you mate her with a dog that has a perfect bite. It's just one of those things. 

Although the jaw could correct itself a little as she matures, it's unlikely to be by much. If the gap is 1cm, then that's a helluva lot for her lower jaw to grow, without a similar growth happening at the top.

By all means, though, train her for agility or obedience - staffs do really well with those, although the agility should be kept minimal (no jumping/scaling etc) until about 18 months old.

If you wanted to go to some local shows and just do it for fun by all means go, but just don't feel bad if you don't win anything cause you know her faults. I enjoy showing a lot (horses) it really is the most fun thing ever. If you get in the circle you may even be able to in the future get another dog and do shows etc. Your girl will be good for agility etc as caryll says they are really good at it and a staffy was in the agilty in crufts this year

After much deliberation today... and looking inside the pupster mouth whilst she's been asleep, (as she wouldnt let the vet) and she has indentation marks in the top pallette just inside her upper canines from where her lower canines have been pushing, i've come to the realisation (with the help from comments on here) that the gap isn't going to correct and with there already being indentations there already and her teeth aren't full size yet, that she's going to either have to have the canines out or shaved down so they dont press, going to get the vets opinion in a couple of weeks as to when to get them done, as they aren't bothering her yet and want her to be as mature as possible before putting her through an anasthetic. I'm going to stay away from the show ring and do obedience and agility with her. We've also decided that We're going to spay her after her first season as i dont want to take the risk at all of this happening to another puppy, and another puppy having to go through surgery. On the upside though after being devastated about not being able to take her to the ring (how i'v managed it is totally beyond me) iv persuaded my hubby to let me buy another in about 4 months time once ana has settled down after her spay ... (hopefully she'll come into season asap) Thanks for all your advice i've really appreciated it and have been able to make an informed decision

I would not rush to get another, generally they are better getting friends when one is mature, so 18months. Health wise, i prefer not spaying until about 2 as they are then 100% mature, if spayed after the first season (around 8 months) they can have stunted growth and may not bulk out as much.