{"id":563,"date":"2009-06-02T21:25:15","date_gmt":"2009-06-03T01:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbadosbouviers.net\/wordpress\/?p=563"},"modified":"2009-07-16T20:56:16","modified_gmt":"2009-07-17T00:56:16","slug":"judging-a-bite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbadosbouviers.net\/wordpress\/judging-a-bite\/","title":{"rendered":"Judging a bite"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This is one area where a dog which might look very good to spectators and exhibiitors can get severely penalised by a conformation judge.<\/p>\n

I have had newcomers at show handling classes ask me what I think of their dog and it is usually a puppy.\u00a0 In some cases, I have seen disqualifying bites and I would tell them that if the dog was mine I would not show it and explain about the bite.<\/p>\n

A six month puppy with an overshot bite I have found will usually turn out to a correct scissor bite but if at six months it is undershot, it will most likely never have a scissor bite.<\/p>\n

Most dogs are supposed to have a scissor bite, that is that the lower incisors touch inside of the upper incissors.\u00a0 The sketch above illustrates.\u00a0 Breeds like Boxers, Bull Mastiffs, however, are supposed to be undershot, which is a fault in most of the other breeds.\u00a0 Judges can fault dogs for having missing teeth,\u00a0 or having a level bite and not a scissor bite.<\/p>\n

One of the first things the judge does in examining the dog is to examine the “bite”.\u00a0 I always ask the judge if it is ok that I can show him\/her the bite and I have never had a judge insist that they wanted to pull back a Bouvier’s beard and moustache on their own.\u00a0 One of my reasons for this is if\u00a0 kennel cough or a similiar infection was at the show, the judge putting his\/her hand in an infected dog’s mouth would spread it to the other healthy dogs.\u00a0 Persons who know their dogs are not well, especially with anything which could be spread to other dogs should not bring them to be shown but some people would.<\/p>\n

I remember some years a judge from Ireland at a show here opened a dog’s mouth (from the Utility group) and the dog bit the judge who then sent both dog and handler out of the ring and later said he had judged all over the world but it was the first time he had ever been biten by a dog! A first from Barbados! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

So it is also safer for a handler to have control of the dog’s mouth by opening the mouth for the judge.<\/p>\n

The judge at the last show here was so thorough in looking at mouths that eventually I politely asked her if she was looking for anything in particular as she kept on telling me to “open again”.\u00a0 Some dogs do not particularly like having their mouths opened.\u00a0 The judge explained that she was checking the pigmentation of the mouth and the tongue as well as checking the “bite”, this was the teeth from each side and also the incisors at the front of the mouth. I showed 2 Bouviers and the judge’s pattern was the same with both so I believe she was just a thorough judge but a lot of our dogs do not enjoy having their mouths opened for what they might regard as a long time with a stranger looking into their mouth.\u00a0 So it can put a bit of pressure on the handler.<\/p>\n

In the UK, USA and large countries where there are lots of dog shows, the dogs get more accustomed to strangers peering at their teeth and mouth but in Barbados with so few shows, our dogs are not usually accustomed to it.<\/p>\n

Yes, and there are toothbrushes, special toothpaste, and scaling tools to keep the dog’s mouth healthy with sparkling white teeth.\u00a0\u00a0 Bones can help a lot in this area.\u00a0 And the vets offer a service to also clean the dog’s teeth – their idea would be dental heath but conformation competitors might feel that having a judge see some beautiful pearly white teeth might give it an extra point or two.\u00a0 So there might be more to the average “bite” than meets the eye. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is one area where a dog which might look very good to spectators and exhibiitors can get severely penalised by a conformation judge. I have had newcomers at show handling classes ask me what I think of their dog and it is usually a puppy.\u00a0 In some cases, I have seen disqualifying bites and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[78,77],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n