Bulldog Bites: Top Dental Tips & Tricks - Ep 13

Today, we're diving into the fascinating world of Bulldog jaws and dental care. From their unique jaw structure to practical tips for maintaining dental health, we've got you covered.

• Understanding the Bulldog Jaw: Learn about the distinct jaw types in Bulldogs, the importance of a proper undershot jaw with a sweeping turn, and why Bulldogs are one of the most challenging breeds to judge due to their head structure.
• Teething and Dental Health Tips: Discover why safe teething toys are crucial for Bulldog puppies, how to manage their process to ensure proper jaw alignment, and the benefits of using vegetables like carrots for teething relief.
• Practical Dental Care Advice: Sara shares insights on using cotton buds for cleaning debris from Bulldog gums, recognising signs of dental issues such as excessive licking, and the rarity of dental problems like tartar and plaque in Bulldogs.

Don't forget to subscribe and tune in next week as we continue to share insights and tips for Bulldog admirers, owners, and breeders worldwide. Until then, take care of those Bulldog smiles!

📝 Click to read Show Notes

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Ever wonder why Bulldogs have a toothy grin, discovering their unique structure and connection to their original purpose? We'll break down what makes a correct Bulldog jaw. Discover tips for proper tooth care and the importance of safe teething toys and how to prevent dental issues. I'll spill the beans on why some owners use cotton buds for teeth cleaning, and what excessive licking might indicate. Welcome to the Bulldog Broadcast, the Pure Talk Pedigree podcast. Join me Sara Lamont as we delve beyond the pedigree, propaganda and misinformation surrounding the beloved Bulldog breed. Together, we'll uncover the real life realities of Bulldogs sharing insights with admirers, owners and breeders worldwide. In this episode, I'm going to talk about all things related to the Bulldog Jaw. Now I bang on a lot about the breed standard, and that that's the blueprint to what a Bulldog should look like. But historically, the Bulldog is a head breed in the show ring. Or if you were to exhibit your dog. The majority of dogs are shown in profile, which means when a judge assesses them, particularly as a group, that they would be looking at the side of the dog, so they'd be seeing the head, literally the silhouette of the dog, so they'd be seeing the silhouette. And so anything from head top, line, legs, underbelly, tail. However, there are a few breeds that are shown front on. Now, I don't know all the breeds to be fair, but I know for a fact that a Bulldog is shown front on and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is shown front on.

[00:01:46] Now, I'm sure it's no coincidence that they're both bull breeds. So the Bulldog is a head breed, which means the head is like the shop window. And obviously the whole function of the Bulldog was based around the ability of the power of the jaw to be able to hold on and to bait a bull. I think it's widely accepted that Bulldogs are one of the hardest, hardest dogs to judge, and I think many Bulldog handlers will know when a judge is struggling because they find it really difficult to look into the jaw because most breeds, if you got a longer muzzle, you can literally just push the lips back and you can see the side of the jaw, lift up the lips on the front. You're not impeding any eyes or nose or anything like that. So the dog is quite comfortable with it and you can check the bite of the jaw and off you go. Jaws done. But with Bulldogs because obviously they're shorter. Muzzle. If you start trying to judge them in a traditional way, your hands are going to end up covering the dog's eyes, which could spook them out, make them uncomfortable, or you're not going to be able to see the jaw. So there is a particular way that a Bulldog judge would look into a mouth.

[00:03:04] And it's really obvious from a handler point of view whether a judge has done that before, how comfortable they are with doing that, and understanding what they see. And it's quite funny because I think in Pugs, someone once told me that, oh, they literally don't even lift up the lips. They just feel the jaw. They just feel the teeth. Where? In Bulldogs most Bulldog judges, they could spend half an hour looking at Bulldog jaw like they're looking up, down, left, right here, there and everywhere. Because it's such a pivotal point of the breed, it needs to be correct. And ultimately that's bone structure, isn't it? So that's going to impact how the rest of the head looks, particularly the muzzle, the lay back of the head. So like from the chin all the way back to the top of the ears. So it's just a really important piece to the dog. It can sort of go wrong in lots, lots of ways. So and that being like from being too narrow to not being straight, not being some, you know, having a tight enough jaw. So the fit's really good. So yeah, there's quite a lot to it in regards to a Bulldog head from my understanding. And I'll take it if I'm wrong. But I believe that the breed, the Bulldog breed standard is one of the longest breed standards written.

[00:04:23] That just goes to show how in-depth they are and how unique they are, and the skill set the person needs. The judge needs to be able to interpret that, and then see that in the dogs that are in front of them for them to judge. Now the jaw is really important. It was all about the bite. So that's why they have an undershot jaw. That's why they don't have if they had a even bite like most dogs have a even bite. Or maybe a slight scissor bite, I think. But oh my God, don't crucify me if I've got this wrong. But because they don't need to, like, bite onto stuff while they're getting flung around and not let go, they're just using it to pick and retrieve or to manoeuvre and that kind of thing. So most dogs will have a level by an overshot jaw where the top jaw overshoots the bottom. I don't believe there's any dogs that have this requirement in their breed standard, because I imagine it might give a quite a weird looking expression, but I could be totally wrong. But I don't believe that's probably the most undesirable of all traits ever. And then there is the Bulldog that has the undershot jaw, and there's a few breeds that have undershot jaws, and it's most likely to come with the fact that they are lacking the length of muzzle.

[00:05:41] Now, it's not just the fact that it's undershot, it's the fact that there's like a from the sort of jaw bone like from the hinge point that it needs to sort of scoop round. So it's not just a flat jaw that's sticking out and turns up. It's called a turn of jaw. So it should be like this big sweeping arc again, that gives depth to the head when you're looking at the front. That's what gives them their chin. You'll see, like the turn up of jaw and that depth of turn up is their chin. And this is something that we'll probably losing, in the breed a little bit. And a lot of breeders are quite keen to try and keep that element of the breed, because ultimately you would assume the better turn up, the better bite that they would have on the ball. Now, a Bulldog shouldn't show their teeth, so you'll see that, like Tom and Jerry, what's the Bulldog called in there? He's always got his teeth sticking out. And you'll see loads of characterised Bulldogs where their teeth are sticking out. They should not be showing. So from a show perspective, a Bulldog shouldn't be showing their teeth. Like to a degree. To me, obviously you've got different types of teeth in the jaw and what you'll see is they have like six incisors.

[00:06:55] So they're like, they look like these cute little teeth along the front. And then they have the two bigger canine teeth that are sticking up. I don't mind a little row of teeth showing at the front. Not necessarily for showing like obviously I'm judging to breed standard, but that doesn't offend me. What offends me if I see this dog with these two big canine teeth sticking up in their gums hooked behind it, that shows you how poorly fitting their jaw is. So their jaw is extremely undershot. And it isn't. The more undershot, the better. We still want a tight enough fit of jaw that teeth aren't exposed. What you will see, especially if you've got a pup, that dog's teeth. So you're going to get them. And then shortly afterwards, I think it's like from ten weeks onwards. But again, don't shoot the messenger or don't don't tie me up in knots about it. But from ten weeks I think they start teething on thereabouts. And you'll see the little incisors at first fall out and then you'll get the bigger ones. Now you need to you need to let the puppies chew. So this is where most owners go. Oh, the dogs are chewing everything. Well, they need to because they need to get these teeth out, these teeth out their teething. So but then likewise, make sure that they're teething and chewing on toys that are Bulldog safe and teething safe, rather than your skirting boards or your door frames and that kind of thing.

[00:08:14] Because ultimately, what you don't want to happen is for a tooth to fracture, and then that become a bigger issue that might need removal through surgery and that kind of stuff, dentistry or whatever. When the puppies are chewing, give them suitable toys to chew to help them get those teeth out. Sometimes if you see the old one hanging or whatever I've been known, like if you give it a quick tug and just get it out, because what can happen is that if they don't fall out, then the teeth that are trying to come through won't be in correct alignment, because basically the the tooth has stayed in place and is pushing the alignment out the way. When you've got your pup and they're teething, just give them some nice things to be chewing on. Obviously you can do things like vegetables. Carrots are given to dogs quite a lot and I'm not against it. Especially like nice. You can like freeze them or have them in the fridge so they're super cold. That might have a bit of a soothing effect, but what you need to bear in mind is that carrots are quite high sugar content. So generally when people say give vegetables to dogs, it's the greens. And not saying there's bright orange, but like obviously that's in excess.

[00:09:24] So I'm sure the odd carrot every now and then isn't a problem now a telltale sign to see whether a dog's jaw is wry, that it's gone wonky, that it isn't even so you want the jaw to be even the two canines that stick out should be in alignment. As a judge, you'll be able to tell an off jaw because they won't be directly opposite each other. They might be one straight, one slightly in front of the other, which is suggest that the the jaws twisted, which very rarely has an impact on the actual dog and their eating ability because it never I've never seen it to a significant degree that it would impact that. But from a showing perspective, because it is a bit like a beauty contest that's not suitable. I mean, that's like having crooked teeth and being Miss World. It's it's it's less than ideal. Another sign of having a dog with a ride. Or is that maybe their tongue hangs out to one side or the other because the jaw is naturally twisted that way. So then naturally their tongue falls that way. It's not end of the world stuff, to be fair, but yeah, it's not a desirable trait. So really, dogs that have that shouldn't be bred from no different to a lot of other things or reasons dogs shouldn't be bred from.

[00:10:40] But yeah, just to bear in mind. So talking about dentition and teeth care. Now this is an interesting one because. Bulldogs get a lot of slack for a lot of things, unnecessarily so in my belief. Hence why I'm doing this podcast. But I think it's a massively like underreported about how little dental problems they have. I have never taken a dog, a Bulldog that's needed any dentistry works in my lifetime of owning dogs. Owning bulldogs, they just don't get tartar. They just don't seem to get the plaque. If people are talking about bulldogs with bad breath, I imagine it's actually because of the food they're on rather than all their mouth hygiene, which we are going to come on to, rather than it being because of their teeth and like infected teeth. There is a thing called gingival hyperplasia, which is when the gums grow over the teeth. I have experienced this in bulldogs, but this is age in bulldogs and I've only ever experienced it in the in the front teeth. So the little they're little diddy incisors. That's when they sort of get lost in a cloud of Gummidge. Now I've never known any dogs require surgery because of this, because it's just the little ones at the front. And I imagine it probably happens because they never really get used. So if you're using your teeth and the gums around them would be pushed back and receded to sit around that.

[00:12:10] But really, those front ones there don't really get used that much in the scheme of Bulldog chewing. Like I've said elsewhere, generally they don't chew, they eat stuff. Hull, which is a whole other problem. So I have experienced that. It's not anything I've ever been concerned about, and it's not anything that's ever needed any veterinary intervention. Now, I was asked by a puppy owner about teeth brushing, and I have to admit, I don't brush my Bulldogs teeth. Though we all know now that there should be a good mix of chews and harder foods that were naturally clean their teeth. So I think that's kind of sort of one of the selling points of kibble, I think, back in the day was the fact of because it's a biscuity and crunchy, that naturally it's going to keep tartar at bay with them having to crunch down on this food. So maybe if you were wet or raw food feeder exclusively, your dogs might be more prone to dentistry issues. Don't know, just chucking it out there. However, because of the shape of the Bulldog mouth, what they can get is sort of debris cool in between their gums and their lips. And it's literally like at the top of their teeth where their gums actually meet their lips. They have like a little crevice.

[00:13:31] And what can happen is you can see like fur and bits just get stuck in there. Now, what's really useful is that all you need is either a cotton bud or a Q-Tip and literally just run that cotton bud along that crease just to remove any bits of fur or hair. Or, I know, bit of grass might have just got wedged up there and stuck there. So to me, if they've got sore gums, it's probably because the the debris there has been irritated and they can't get it out. So you need to hook it out for them. And I'm assuming this is probably just because of the shape of their head and shape of their jaw. They get this extra crevice because my Labrador hasn't got the crevice. But equally, my Labrador has already got tartar and she's under three years old, so she looks like she's going to be the one of those that needs that kind of stuff where the Bulldogs don't. So to me, that's your most important cleaning mouth cleaning tool. When it comes to a bulldog, it is a Q-Tip. Now, what you're sometimes see is your. And this is why it's good to check mouths regularly. You might see like a tough of fur growing in the wrong place. And it literally like will grow between the tooth and the gums. And it is like a it's really weird, just like a tough affair.

[00:14:47] All you need to do is just get some tweezers and just literally just pull it out. So I don't know if some hair cells growing in the wrong place and getting confused, but if you see a bulldog licking quite a lot or rubbing their face, then I'd definitely investigate. Do the Q-Tip thing first, and then just have a look and see if there's any tufts of fur growing in the wrong place around teeth, and literally just pull them out. It comes out really easily, it's obviously not embedded properly. But again, a little Bulldog quirk that has an owner you become more than used to and you don't bat an eyelid, but it's not until you meet somebody that hasn't done that you're like, oh yeah, these are the things you need to do for a Bulldog. So that's it. I think I've covered enough on the jaw from perspective of an owner and what you need to know and how you need to manage it and why it's different compared to a lot of other breeds. So as I've said before, come and join us in the community. I'm waiting for you. Otherwise, I'm signing off for this week and I'll catch up with you next week. Before you leave, make sure to visit BulldogBroadcast.com for immediate access to the show notes, community forum recommendations and episode extras.