This is a fairly hypothetical question as I am not sure yet if I need to go down this route (will depend if the pups nuts ever drop).

The background is that i have a nearly 5 month old rott boy who hasn't yet got his nuts.  He is from 1/4 german lines but hasn't to date shown any prey drive or any drive what so ever.  He is the most laid back dog I have ever met.  I had a conversation with someone yesterday that went along the lines of me saying I didn't want to get him castrated too early due to growth implications and personality issues etc.  Essentially I don't want a puppy head in an 8 stone body.

But then the person I was speaking to commented that I have the perfect pup at the moment with no aggression, drive or sexualised behaviour and what would be the harm in keeping him that way.  Potentially, even with great training and lots of work he could be a difficult dog when he is older due breed traits so why not get him castrated early and save any possible bother.

Hmmm, I don't know enough about the subject to make an informed choice but it seems a bit too easy.  I have a rott as I love the look of the breed and the personality but my pup is an absolute sweetheart at the moment although I am well aware that this will change as he hits the Kevins and life as we know it may be turned upside down.

FWIW the conversation came about as I was querying the optimum age to neuter if his nuts never make an appearance - how late is too late?

Anyone able to enlighten me?

Hi Ali,

I can't help on the pros and cons at an early age of leaving two retained testicles -v- castration on whether this would affect growth plates and / or behaviour in the same way as early castration as I don't know if there are diminished testosterone levels when both testes are retained .......   Hopefully someone can clarify!

As for how late is too late for removing a single retained testes, I was advised up to around 4 or even 5 years was generally still safe but, IMO, as most dogs would be fully mature by 3 years then that would be my personal guide :)

regards, Teri

If you need to have him done, I'd go for around 18 months to 2 years. That way his male hormones will allow him to grow to his full potential and he will be the dog he was meant to be. Early castration can certainly affect his growth and development adversely. It sounds as though he has a good temperament and you are obviously on top of the training so there's no reason to get him done early. His balls might drop yet but if not you can still have him castrated, but he'll be fully mature. You might find after neutering you have to cut his food down to avoid excessive weight gain which you wouldn't want to do while he's still growing.

I know plenty of friendly well behaved entire Rotties, to be fair, they have lovely owners too :-)

Hi Ali, found this for you which *may* be useful

Dog and cats in which both testicles fail to descend are usually sterile. When testicles remain in the pet's abdomen the 4-5 degree higher temperature there prevents the production of sperm. It does not, however, affect the production of testosterone, so these pets exhibit typical male behavior. When one testicle does descend into the scrotum the pet will be fertile. When two missing testicle are under the skin near the scrotum, the pet may be fertile. But it is a very bad idea to breed dogs and cats that are cryptorchid because their descendants will carry the same defective genes

Full article is HERE  (can't say I agree with it all though LOL )

HTH, Teri :)

Thanks for that Teri, my grasp of biology is minimal ;) and I hadn't even given consideration to sperm and testosterone not being totally linked.  so essentially I could end up with a lanky, small headed dog with a pea brain and still giving off attitude?  Not a winning combination in my book.

I have been googling dog testicles for the last week so hopefully no-one steals my laptop or people will think I am a right weirdo!  Thanks for the link, I will have a look at the article.

Hi Misty, you have hit the nail on the head as these things relating to growth and development are what I was worried about.  Thanks for your input. :)

One thing to bear in mind if his testicles do not descend is the risk of testicular cancer. We had our gsd castrated  because he proved to have one retained in his abdomen. I would also ask the advice of a vet as to how long is advisable to leave it. Obviously now is far to young but I feel one needs to balance one against the other at the right time.
Hopefully both  testicles will descend in due course and then you only have to think about one thing. I certainly wouldn't go for early castration if his testicles appear, we imo  I had my gsd done  earlier than necessary, 10months, due to trainer who was sure that his early bad manners would be helped by castration, I took his advice, it made no difference at all only training has done that and we are still work in progress he is now at nearly 2 showing that he will be a lovely well mannered dog and nothing to do with lack of "Balls"
We could and should have left him longer and still prevented cancer. He sounds lovely ,well brought up rotties are smashing dogs my friend has a beautiful laid back bitch.