Last night I was checking Meerah's teeth, the jaw is looking pretty good, the canines haven't come through yet, that will also, hopefully, push things into place. That's something less to worry about. I'm still not sure on the P1's, the top ones are there, but there isn't one on one side on the bottom yet, I can feel it's there it just needs to come through the gum, but I'm still not sure if there is a double on the other side yet. Like I say if there is, well times have changed!
The second photo is of Isla's mouth. (Orin's sister) Isla has a double p1 - there should only be one of those small teeth, 4 premolars, with P1 being the smallest and p4 the largest ...(so 16 in total). As a pet owner you would think, well big deal? For a show dog that was a disaster, not so long ago that would be considered pretty much a disqualification, well whatever you were certainly at the back of the class. Thankfully these days most judges see the bigger picture, we have so much more to worry about in this breed than a small tooth!
Anyway, I'm gentle but firm when I check teeth ... showing their bite is an important part of dog showing and puppies needs to learn to do it, but at this time mouths are sore. Last night I checked the front of Meerah's mouth, the top p1's and then the bottom ... Oh a little objection grumble .. nope that is not happening and as her mother would do, I gave an instant physical and vocal correction, "don't you speak to me like that," before carrying on. After doing it again, I praised her quietly and calmly. I looked at her teeth again before going to bed, and purely for training purposes again this morning. Hopefully she won't be as cheeky as to grumble at me again ... these are all lessons of life. Trust me, little Meerah is not the first to grumble at me, Sammi did over a bone, Kaiah did and Ross was a fecking nightmare and did more than once, how such a twat of a puppy could grow up to be such a wonderful adult is beyond me? .. Well I am kind of hoping how it was all dealt with helped. They must learn that there are consequences for their actions, timing is paramount, if you have to think about what to do you are too late to correct, it has to be instant, timing is not something you can teach someone they have to learn it for themselves. Slapping is useless and comes from our frustration and lack of understanding of canine behaviour and language. Watch the mothers, see how they deal with the problems, and get as close as you can in your correction. Basically, more vocal than physical, call me old school, but I firmly believe you need both.
