06/29/2026
If you follow House of the Dragon, you no doubt noticed Sheep Stealer's apparent dental problem. That misaligned jaw has a name — an underslung jaw — and it's a conformation fault we see in both horses and dogs, particularly in bulldog type breeds.
It isn't just cosmetic, and it actually explains why Sheep Stealer has such severe behavior problems.
Because the lower jaw extends too far forward, the upper teeth have nowhere to sit correctly, they press against the tongue and lower jaw instead. The constant friction creates painful ulcers, chronic inflammation, and infection. A dog living with that level of oral pain is irritable, reactive, and difficult to work with. Eating and chewing become uncomfortable enough that food itself becomes a source of frustration, which is where you start seeing resource guarding and selectivity that looks like a behavior problem but traces directly back to physical pain. The skeletal structure that produces an underslung jaw often restricts the airway as well, meaning poor sleep, low stamina, and chronic oxygen deprivation. A dog that can't sleep properly and can't breathe well is anxious, reactive, and difficult to settle. Touch around the face and muzzle becomes aversive — an animal that flinches or snaps when you reach for its head isn't being difficult, it's protecting itself.
Sheep Stealer is widely known to be irritable and ungovernable. He has killed more riders who have tried to claim him than any other dragon in history and has actively avoided human contact his entire life. The show frames that as personality. But he's been living with this in his face his entire life. I'd argue you're looking at an animal in chronic discomfort that has learned the only way to get relief is to make the problem go away.
A dog in that much pain doesn't get labeled difficult by accident. It gets there one bad interaction at a time.
Good breeding matters. Structure is the foundation everything else is built on.
