Does anyone have English Cocker Spaniel?

We have a real cutie in Grace's agility class named Ginger.  She has a wonderful, gentle personality.  She is so sweet, you just want to kiss her little head.[sm=floating.gif] I can't find anything on the web about this teeth locking problem.  [8|]

I'll ask her owner in class tonight if she has ever heard of this.  She has owned several.

ORIGINAL: dyan

But later...everyone was surprised that the owner told them that their teeth lock,,, and many puppies get their teeth cut. I guess the owner was looking into this.
Does anyone out there know anything about this??

 
???
 
I'm sorry, but I have never heard of getting teeth cut before.

I have an English Cocker. I don't know what a "teeth cut" is, but, when we went to a vet she looked at his teeth and told us that the tips of his main teeth (don't know what you call them--the longest ones at the top and bottom) are broken off. Is that what she is talking about? The vet said it's OK though...

Broken off or cut off??   HHHmm!
 
I only heard of cutting teeth just recently,,talking about rabbits whos teeth never stop growing.

ORIGINAL: dyan

Broken off or cut off?? HHHmm!

I only heard of cutting teeth just recently,,talking about rabbits whos teeth never stop growing.

I don't know the word she used... broken off I think... But cut off with what, how? [8|]

 don't know the word she used... broken off I think... But cut off with what, how?

 
I don't know,,I can't imagine except someone on this board said that bunnies teeth don't stop growing and that in the end they cant eat and that is what does them in. Having never heard of that.... I was talking to a vet tech at work and asked her if she knew about that...and she said yes...in fact one of the vets she worked for made her do it and it was aweful!   Then she said that one of the techs that works with us now had to have her bunnies teeth cut back.
Thats all I know~!

I don't know,,I can't imagine except someone on this board said that bunnies teeth don't stop growing and that in the end they cant eat and that is what does them in. Having never heard of that.... I was talking to a vet tech at work and asked her if she knew about that...and she said yes...in fact one of the vets she worked for made her do it and it was aweful! Then she said that one of the techs that works with us now had to have her bunnies teeth cut back.

This is very common in rodents and rabbits.

Their teeth grow continuously, and they have to chew and/or grind their teeth constantly to keep them at a decent length. Most of the time, through eating hard foods, gnawing, and just plain grinding their teeth, they stay at a nice short length and there is never a problem. BUT, sometimes, if the teeth don't meet properly, the animal isn't able to grind them properly and they end up getting too long to grind at all. Over time, if left unchecked, they can grow so long that the animal is unable to eat, and if left unchecked even LONGER, they can grow into the jaw/skull.

Malclussions are a genetic issue- well bred rabbits/rodents should never have that problem. But I have had my share of poorly bred pet store rats with teeth issues- in one case, one of my former rats, Marty, had top incisors that grew completely sideways. He had to have his teeth trimmed every month to keep them from growing through his lip, and he needed a special soft diet.

Teeth trimming in rodents/rabbits really isn't that big of a deal. Like cutting a fingernail. If you cut them too short, it can bleed, just like a fingernail, but other than that it's no biggie. My vet taught me YEARS ago how to trim a rat's teeth, and I just use regular dog nail trimmers to do it. It's loud and it SOUND like a terrible cracking noise, but it doesn't hurt them.


But as far as cutting a dog's teeth? Dog's teeth are VASTLY different from rodent/rabbit teeth, obviously...they don't grow continuously and because it isn't natural for them to constantly wear down and regrow, I'm betting they have ALOT more nerve endings in their teeth than a rabbit' or rodents- so cutting their teeth would probably be a much bigger deal and would need to be done under anaesthesia. A dog's teeth are not going to grow continuously and cause problems- so I honestly can't see a good reason for trimming their teeth.


BUT, my bulldog, Axl, has canines that were filed by his former owners. We have no idea why- but the tops have been filed off of each of them and they're now useless, blunt little nubs. He has issues with eating hard foods because of it. So I know people do it- I just really don't know why.

Shadows breeder never mentioned it,his vet never mentioned it.None of the books i have say anything about it and neither do any of the cocker forums i am on.I am going to go out on a limb and guess there isnt much truth to it.His teeth look the same as the other dogs.
Being a 1 1/2 year old boy his brain doesnt seem to work properly though.

I asked the woman at agility class with the cute English Cocker (She has several and has had them in the past).  She has never heard of this being a problem with English Cockers.. 

Is it possible that this particular dog has a really tight sissor bite and the teeth get too tight when closed (like a tight sissor?  That is the only thing I can guess at.  I've never heard of this. 

The only time I've ever seen anything about filing teeth is on an Animal Planet program about German Shepherds.  In Germany, it seems to be common practice to have working dogs' canines filed blunt so that they don't hurt the sheep.

Thanks for checking Diane!  Thanks to all for their guesses and help!
Who knows what she was talking about and why,,,but I'll tell you what... if she comes back and I learn anything about it, I'll let you guys all know!

i agree with diane, thats the only thing that makes sense, with bulldogs, bird dogs, and shepherds. if the dog is going to be in close quarters with their target (such as the shepherds - they're allowed to bite the sheep in order to intimidate it) the handler doesnt want the animal to be killed by the dog's sharp canines. maybe.. just MAYBE (and i am only deducing because i have never really owned a bird dog, except a lab/golden and he was no bird dog) but maybe they do this with english cockers because they use them more in the field than the American cocker. perhaps it is some sort of thing with the bird hunters that work this breed to file the teeth so the dog doesnt damage the bird while retrieving it.... i dont know if English cockers are more hard mouthed than other breeds so its unique to them or not. maybe when this person got their pet, some old timer mentioned having to do this for that reason. but i am only guessing. sounds like a cheap way to make up for sorry training to me since no one else has heard of it nor can they find any facts about it.

as for the bulldog... maybe the previous owners thought they were doing this to prevent a fatal bite, since he's a bulldog and they have that potential, whether or not they have the mind set is pointless to people like that. i had a friend that had a pet mountain lion and it was declawed and defanged (totally removed canines) just so it would be a slightly safer pet i guess.
the only other reason for Axl's teeth being the way they are is maybe they broke. if he bit onto something it could have broken them down or wore them down. heck, maybe he used to like chewing on cinder blocks. my husband had a dog that used to carry one around for fun. but my guess would be it was done as some lame brain idea to make him less harmfull if he ever bit someone.

If a dog has to have their teeth filed down to work stock or retrieve game properly, it's not worth much as a working dog. Bite inhibition is a REALLY IMPORTANT trait, so... I'm not sure that makes any sense either.

If a dog has to have their teeth filed down to work stock or retrieve game properly, it's not worth much as a working dog. Bite inhibition is a REALLY IMPORTANT trait, so... I'm not sure that makes any sense either.

yeah, well, I dunno...just something that I saw on the Animal Planet. 

A neighbor of mine keeps a protection trained Malinois.  She is deathly afraid of thunder storms.  If she is in her crate during a Thunderstorm, she tries to chew her way out.  She has broken all of her canines from this. 

I think that if I were the cocker owner, I'd talk to another vet. 

yeah even though they explained WHY they filed the GSDs teeth down, it didnt really seem all that bright.... a dog can deliver a very effective nip.. there was no need for the shepherd to shoulder rush the sheep and then try to rip at its throat with its teeth..... most sheep owners would shoot a dog that does that... or they used to anyway..