Members
Toy Manchester Terrier dentition explained with data, judging guidance, and why focusing on function over tooth counts protects the breed.
The Weekly Brief
The best of SHOWSIGHT editorials, weekly wins, and breeder commentary — delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning.
The current AKC Breed Standard for the Manchester Terrier states: “The bite is a true scissors bite. Level bite is acceptable. The jaws are powerful with full and proper dentition. The teeth are white and strongly developed.”
The inclusion of “full and proper dentition,” or all 42 teeth, in the Manchester Terrier Breed Standard has been a subject of discussion in our breed for some time, partially because no other Manchester Terrier Breed Standard worldwide has ever included such a requirement until the American Manchester Terrier Club (AMTC) added it in the 1991 AKC Breed Standard revision. For a breed with origins predating written Standards, this is a relatively recent change.
While we don’t know exactly how important full dentition was to the breed’s founders, it’s clear it wasn’t significant enough to be mentioned in any historical Standards.
When the AKC Breed Standard was revised again in 2020, a proposed addition of faults for missing teeth ignited controversy. The first draft published in the AKC Gazette, originating from the AMTC Breed Standard Review Committee, included the following language: “Any deviation from full dentition is a fault. More than two missing teeth is a serious fault.”
Concerned about how such a change to the Breed Standard might affect our small gene pool, the Health Committees of the American and Canadian parent clubs conducted a first-of-its-kind dentition survey of show and breeding dogs in North America in 2020. At the time, I served as Chair of the AMTC Health Committee, a role I continue to hold today.
The findings were eye-opening:
Similar trends were seen in Standard Manchesters, which is no surprise considering they are two varieties of the same breed. In both varieties, bottom teeth were more commonly missing than top, and pre-molars, especially the second pre-molars, were the most frequently absent. As many breeders know, those tiny P1s can be particularly hard to see in small mouths.
Importantly, only three percent of all surveyed dogs had incorrect occlusion (overshot or undershot), indicating that occlusion overall is sound in the breed. No dogs were missing canines, and only ten percent of dogs were missing top or bottom incisors. Overall, breeders have placed more emphasis on ensuring a full complement of incisors and canines as contributors to correct occlusion.
The conclusion of our joint Health Committees was: “There is no evidence at this time that dentition on its own represents a significant health issue for our individual dogs, but how we handle it could become a health issue for our breed if we don’t take care to safeguard our breeding pool.”
Following the publication of the survey results, the AMTC removed the proposed faults for missing teeth in subsequent drafts. The revised Breed Standard was approved later that year (2020) with no changes to the description of dentition.
A few years later, a December 2023 letter from the American Manchester Terrier Club formally weighed in when it issued the following guidance to Conformation judges:
“With regards to dentition consistent with AKC judging procedures, we strongly urge judges to ask the handler to show the bite. Our Breed Standard states, “the jaws are powerful with full and proper dentition,” and further references “tight black lips lie close to the jaw.” While it is necessary to check the bite and the sides of the mouth, it is improper to open a Manchester Terrier’s mouth to check for the molars or to expect the dog to stand while teeth are counted. The Breed Standard does not include a disqualification for missing teeth. Due to the tight lips that lie close to the jaw and the large teeth relative to their size, attempting to handle the dog and visualize each tooth in an exhibit’s mouth can lead to an unnecessarily unpleasant experience for the dog.
When examining the Manchester Terrier from a functional and historical perspective, it is most important to ensure the quality of the bite by evaluating the strength of the jaw, size of the teeth, and the occlusion.”
This guidance was provided at the request of the membership following numerous exhibitor complaints about judges counting teeth during table exams.
There are several important reasons why judges should follow this protocol:
Manchester Terriers have long memories, and a negative experience on the table can cause lasting aversion to the show ring. A functional evaluation of the bite should focus on jaw strength, tooth size, and occlusion, not a forensic-style audit of tooth count.
Missing teeth in the Manchester Terrier are not new, nor is it escalating. Penalizing dogs for a missing premolar—particularly when it has no impact on function or type—risks doing more harm than good. That said, this is not a call to pardon dogs with numerous missing teeth. As with any structural deviation, the degree to which a trait is penalized should be proportional to the extent of deviation from the ideal.
We must preserve the Manchester Terrier’s integrity and utility without compromising genetic diversity. Judges and breeders alike should consider the whole dog: form, function, and temperament—not just a tooth tally.
Form Follows Function
Canine dentition, what’s the big deal? A dog is born with no teeth in his mouth at all. Just as with human dentition, dogs have two sets
