# Why is Molly's head so pointy?!



## Shiningsummer (May 24, 2010)

Molly has a knob on the top of her skull! As she's gotten older the point on her head has gotten more pronounced. This sounds like a weird question to me but I don't see many dogs with a knobby head like hers haha. Does anyone here have a dog with a pointy head? Is this normal? Is it any indication of what breeds she's mixed with? I've always thought she was apbt/lab mix or maybe just poorly bred apbt.


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## PatchworkRobot (Aug 24, 2010)

My pup has a "smart bump" on his head. I don't really know how the bump comes about it's actually fairly common, just not a hugely noticeable thing.


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## Shiningsummer (May 24, 2010)

Oh, it's called a smart bump? Never heard of that til now, how interesting. It just kind of bugs me, like when I'm petting her I avoid that part of her head cuz I'm afraid of hurting her.

On the other hand, Merlin's head is round with no bumps. Wonder what that tells me about his intelligence lol....


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## FilleBelle (Aug 1, 2007)

Both Labs and Goldens have that big lump toward the back of their heads.


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

Jubel's got one. You can't see it unless you are looking for it but you can easily feel it on the back of his head.


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## upfromtheashes (Mar 10, 2008)

Yep, my golden's got one of those. We've always said that his brain was so big that he needed a little extra skull room to fit, so we call it his brain bump.


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## hast (Aug 17, 2011)

Doesn't German Shorthaired Pointers usually have a bump like that?


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

it's more correctly called the occipital protuberance, all dogs have them in varying degrees some are so small they can't be seen, some dogs may also have strong muscling around it which makes it not stand out so much.


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## Mac'N'Roe (Feb 15, 2008)

Mac and Roe both have one to some degree. Mac's is more noticeable!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Pretty common in Labs. She does look very Lab-ish to me.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Like Keechak said, all dogs have smart bumps. Well, in grooming we often called them dumb bumps. When you shaved a dog you start below the bump.


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## workerant (Feb 28, 2011)

My old step-Dane (actually my neighbors' dog, but I spent more time with him than they did) had a huge smart bump, which was kinda ironic. Just sayin'.


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## R.Scott (Sep 18, 2011)

My sister's borzoi has that massive bump on his head too. We jokingly call it "The Goob". But it's actually called the "Sagittal Crest". It's just a crest that runs along the top of the skull where the muscles can attach to it. It's perfectly normal!


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## Spicy1_VV (Jun 1, 2007)

Yeah smart bump LOL my apbt breeder said it meant the pup would grow up to be intelligent


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

All dogs have them, just some are more pronounced than others. Lots of muscles attach there. I find it very helpful on short haired breeds if I'm walking with them as the ridge gets more pronounced if there face muscles tense up..when you have reactive dogs to work with it's one of the first signs of tension when you can't see their faces. 
It also can become more pronounced as a dog ages and their fat and muscle start to wane.


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

So that's what that lump on Wally's head is called.

I know he loves when I rub it LOL


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## The_Monstors (Oct 1, 2010)

It's getting more pronounced because she's getting older. Just like humans whose cheekbones and eye orbitals look more severe when we age.

Its not too pronounced on my black girls head, but a long ridge is easily felt. It's barely felt on my boy.

What makes the point is the occipital.


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## ethansangel1 (Sep 7, 2011)

My Lab/Dane's head is extremely pointy! His bump is huge. She's normal.


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## Shiningsummer (May 24, 2010)

Well thanks everyone for making me feel better about this! At one point, I was worried that it could be a tumor or maybe she had bumped her head when she was younger and had a deformed skull because of it ha ha. It's good to know it seems to be pretty common and normal.



Willowy said:


> Pretty common in Labs. She does look very Lab-ish to me.


She does look labish in those pictures! But sometimes she looks more apbt. If I can find better pictures I'll put them up. One things for sure, Molly was definitely pouting in the above pics. She was bored and mad at me cuz I wouldn't play with her! She's so adorable...



Spicy1_VV said:


> Yeah smart bump LOL my apbt breeder said it meant the pup would grow up to be intelligent


Well it's true my girl is very intelligent! 



Cracker said:


> All dogs have them, just some are more pronounced than others. Lots of muscles attach there. I find it very helpful on short haired breeds if I'm walking with them as the ridge gets more pronounced if there face muscles tense up..when you have reactive dogs to work with it's one of the first signs of tension when you can't see their faces.
> It also can become more pronounced as a dog ages and their fat and muscle start to wane.


Interesting, thanks for the tip! I'll have to watch for it on our next walk.



The_Monstors said:


> It's getting more pronounced because she's getting older. Just like humans whose cheekbones and eye orbitals look more severe when we age.
> 
> Its not too pronounced on my black girls head, but a long ridge is easily felt. It's barely felt on my boy.
> 
> What makes the point is the occipital.


Thanks for the illustration! That explains a lot. So it doesn't mean that she's like some sort of doggy genius huh? Dang, oh well I won't tell her the bad news :biggrin1:


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## Ms. HoundDog (Sep 20, 2011)

It's also known as the nuchal crest. Some spiritual pet behaviorists say regularly massaging it will keep your dog intelligent and more in-tune to the world ^_^ Smarty bump indeed!  Have fun!


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## taylorga (6 mo ago)

i see this is from a long time ago, but just noticed my lab puppy has developed the same bump. Can I ask if it ever went away over time and evened out? Thanks


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## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

The original poster hasn't been here in a decade, so it's unlikely you'll get a reply. I'm closing this thread to further replies, but encourage you to start a new thread about this so our currently active members can offer advice!


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