Hi all, throughout my whole life we have always had bitches, Alfie is the first male dog in my life, so please bear with me on this one! We got him from a rescue at about 10-12 weeks and we didnt see any signs of his testicls until a good few weeks after then, and even now, at 6 months old, they are only visible every now and then...at what age should they fully drop?...as at the moment they are just two little lumps...and also, he has a lump that I just noticed a few days ago, its kind of underneath his anus, between his back legs, it moves about when you touch it, is this his anal gland? sorry if I sound a bit dense about all this...I just thought I would ask on here before I panic and take him to the vets, in case this is all perfectly normal!

Many thanks

Anal glands are inside the dog/bitch and cannot be seen or felt unless there is something very seriously wrong.

Testicles should be there when you take a 7 week old puppy home, if they are not permanently down by this age I would seek the advice of a vet, however some late developers have been known to take up to a year.

If only one drops then you should have the retained one removed.

My current BC had his balls up & down like yoyos until he had completely finished teething

A new vet at my practice suggested I get him castrated at 15 weeks as he would get cancer because he didn't have both there & then ! , having had male dogs from puppies for a long time I waited until he completely finished teething & he now has two perfectly formed & postioned testicles

When he had his hind dew claws off at 7 months I write on his abdominal(using a skin marker)"Do Not Castrate This Puppy"just in case he retracted one or both whilst he was there.

Young males can also retract their testicles if they are stressed by being sexed too often I would leave them alone until he is at least nine months & removed the retained one if there is one after a year old

Goodness MM - 15 weeks!

Even my vet said he wouldn't do anything until 15 MONTHS if the retained testicle didnt' drop - it hasn't and Charlie is now 18m and in the next 6 months or so we will be doing a hunt the missing one and remove it op'.  However, we are not removing the descended testicle at this point - although I'm sure vet will try and pursuade me too - found out on here can keep it!

Like your style MM!!!

My vet was actually passing when I was being given this advice & he popped his head in & was laughing Told the rather dishy young Spanish vet the I probably knew more about dogs balls that he did lolololol

I did forgive him as he is very dishy if a little too enthusiastic re castration than necessary :D

Thanks guys...I may well make an appointment to see what the vet thinks, but I doubt his balls will be even visible at all at the vets as they only seem to be there for very short periods...I definitely had no plans to castrate him until much older...but if there is any danger to him then obviously I dont want to risk it, but would want to hold on as long as is safe. Does anyone have an idea of what the other lump I have found could possibly be, it is very visible, it looks about 4cm long and moves around when you touch it...oh Im scaring myself even describing it...I think I will book an appointment to be on the safe side.

anyone any idea on the lump I am worrying about? Is the prostate gland visible?

No. The prostate gland is well inside the body.

I have no idea what the lump could be but would recommend that you have your vet check it out - certainly better safe than sorry.

regards, Teri

I am ringing first thing tomorrow morning, although I think it is just half days on a saturday so I hope they fit us in...Ive been searching the internet trying to think what it can be...or if it was normal...I was even thinking it could be a hernia...

Just occurred to me that - since his testes are floating - the "lump" you are feeling (from your description) could possibly be his scrotum?????  Then again it's late and defnitely NOT my area :D 

Well I have definitely seen the mystery lump when his two testicles are visible (even though they just resemble lumps themselves) as at first I thought it was a ball that had just got a bit lost...but I have definitely seen both balls AND this lump at the same time...but because his testicles definitely havent descended into the scrotum, does that mean the scrotum could look like a lump behind the testicles? This is all very hard to explain...and golly gosh, it is getting late (too late to be describing dogs balls anyway!) I will take him for a check up and hopefully this is all normal!

Thank you Teri!

ok...just had a chat about mystery lump with OH...(as I had yet to show him it) he agrees it is definitely his scrotum, awaiting the balls to drop into it...so, ok, I feel a little silly...I knew I should of stuck with bitches! Thank you Teri!

ROFLMAO that not as bad as my very experienced ex partner( in dogs not life)who thought our beardie puppies all had 4 testicles one set half way down their man bit(to quote her) !!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D

definitely his scrotum, awaiting the balls to drop into it...so, ok, I feel a little silly...I knew I should of stuck with bitches!

At least you weren't getting confused with his willy - now that would have been worrying :D