Skull Maturation

[Stressmagnet]

Hi

This probably should be in the Lab forum but there's sone interesting discussions in there and I didn't want to derail them for this frivolity: :D

Have a desexed 7month males lab puppy (Ernie the loveable Idiot). He still has a slim skull tho both sire and dam had well developed heads. (What I would call the classic lab head; broad between the ears).

His breeder said something about when 'his head splits', which I took to mean when his head broadens.

Any idea when this happens? I realise he's still a pup but I'm not sure if due to neutering him early (I'm kicking myself), he will never get that lovely mature head and will always look puppy like.

I'll be fine and love him just the same, (well maybe not if he keeps rearranging the potted plants) but it would be nice to know.

Yeah, I'm superficial and shallow.

[sandgrubber]

In my experience, Lab heads may continue broadening until around 3 yrs. You can have sire and dam with broad skulls and still end up with offspring who have narrow skulls, however.

Early desexing may interfere with the process . . . it tends to produce leggier dogs. I'm not sure whether or not that extends to skull development.

In Oz, I believe the technical term is "boofy" :) . Here in the US, we say "block headed".

Edited November 4, 2014 by sandgrubber

[Starkehre]

He will not mature to have the same head in terms of breadth, fill and testosterone based muscle (which is largely what gives a dog its "boofy look" because he was desexed prior to reaching sexual maturity. His face and skull will still age and mature, he won't always look like a puppy, but he will appear to have a longer muzzle to skull ratio and probably slightly more loose skin (wet) around the cheeks as these will not fill out.

Yes, of course you'll love him just the same :) and there is nothing wrong with wanting to know if your lad will end up looking the same as he would have if he was left entire into sexual maturity.

On the upside, more often than not, dogs that are desexed once sexual maturity has been reached, although there finished skull will be more developed than their early desexed counterpart, will still lose their testosterone based muscle around their head within months of being desexed no matter how late you desex them. This is particularly more noticeable in larger breeds.

Another upside is the average pet owner, unless they are very used to studying dog anatomy, are not likely to even notice these differences because they may not be significant enough to spot.

Edited November 4, 2014 by Starkehre