Hi all some help needed! One of my pups who has just been for a check up with his vets hasn't "dropped his balls" yet he is 7 months now. My lovely owner has been told to castrate ASAP. He is a big dog and the one I was desperately hoping would be shown as he is a fantastic dog. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Many thanks
Sian

tell her to hold off do anything. There is certainly anecdotal evidence that it could still appear.  did he have two at any stage before this or has he never been entire? Can the vet say where the testicle is? if in is around the inguinal ring there is hope but if it is up inside then it wont happen.

In any event there is no huge rush to remove the retained one. Whilst there is an increased risk of cancer it usually takes time to develop. The dog will benefit more from the testosterone. And when the time comes you could just have the retained one removed giving the dog the benefit of being entire without the risk of cancer.

I am sure there was a thread on here not so long ago about showing castrated dogs so a show career is not totally out of the question.

Have they ever been there? If so I wouldn't rush into anything give them time. In fact I would give them time any way and tell them not to keep checking :)

Thanks for the replies. I have told her not to panick just yet as they are a large breed and take time to mature. I've told her to check herself at home but not make a big thing of it. I'm 99.9% sure when he left me they were there, could they go back up and stay there? But in amongst the fluff of this breed they are pretty hard to find anyway! Like finding a needle in a haystack lol fingers  crossed they make an appearance soon.

> My lovely owner has been told to castrate ASAP.

Typical..the vets most common answer!! I bet there put the frighteners regarding cancer on his owners?? Even if it doesnt appear there is no rush.
Let nature take its time for another few months to see what does happen. Especially if they were both there before.

No rush to neuter, but I wouldn't expect them to drop at this age. Several times I have waited and hoped as people have mentioned instances of them dropping late, but my personal experience in both my breeds AND in both my cat breeds has been that if they are not there at 8 weeks they never will be. The first pup I ever had appear with just one testicle was neutered aged 3 and he was and still is fine. :)

one of my males didnt drop one of  his until 10 weeks. It could be felt close to where it should have been. Once I stopped fiddling and checking it did appear so it could have been me that held it up :(

Even if the dog were to have two fully descended testicles many vets would say castrate ASAP.
I would give the dog until 12 months as I've not heard of them coming right after that.

one of my males didnt drop one of  his until 10 weeks. It could be felt close to where it should have been. Once I stopped fiddling and checking it did appear so it could have been me that held it up :-(
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'Fiddling' can be counter-productive indeed.   Many's a time a puppy has been taken in the ring, around 6 months, only for them to have 'disappeared'  Lol.    Resulting panic on the part of owner and judge (this was before castrated males could be shown - they can now, but it would be unlikely an entire dog of similar quality wouldn't be put up ahead of the castrated exhibit).    And a deal of embarrassment, has to be said.  Some puppies can pull them up.

Personally I'd prefer them to be 'around' by 7 months, but would wait until over a year to give 'em time, and to allow some maturity before having to go in to find the missing one.

Maybe a talk to the original breeder could throw some light on what's going on (whether a delay is known within the breed/bloodlines).   In any case, if this dog turns out to be monorchid, the breeder needs to know as this pairing should really be avoided.

Thanks for all the replies. I have told her to hang off till he is 12 months. I've spoken to the stud dog owner and my bitches breeder as well they are both of the opinion not to rush into anything just yet as they have known dogs in this breed to not drop until 12 months! Yes the vet three in the cancer scare card as well which wasn't helpful. Fingers crossed they make an appearance.
Thanks

There is really no hurry to castrate or remove the retained testicle either.

The best bet would b e to wait until he needs to go under GA for something else.  She can wait several years.

There is simply an increased risk of testicular cancer which isn't that common anyway.  Less common than prostate cancer which occurs more often in neutered dogs.

another point for hem to consider. If the dog doesn't appear to have two testicles in the future there is no reason to remove the existing one the vet can just go looking and possibly remove the other. Hope that makes sense

An increased risk only, for sure, but are you prepared to take that risk?  The testicles need to be outside the body, to minimise this risk.   Personally if they/one isn't there by the time the dog is a year old, I'd get the missing one located, and removed.   Yes, it may just be a risk, but wouldn't you kick yourself if later on, the dog does develop testicular cancer just because you ignored it?

>but wouldn't you kick yourself if later on, the dog does develop testicular cancer just because you ignored it?

I'm not suggesting it is ignored but that it is perfectly OK to wait until full maturity, 2+ years for anything but the smallest breeds, so could be timed with Hip scoring etc.

It is unlikely that at 7 months they will descend. I have just rehomed (to a pet home) one of my puppies from last litter (now 4 month) for this reason....he only has one. I wanted to keep him to show but as we all know this is now impossible. I did tell the new owners that he would have to be neutered at a year old and reduced the price to cover the operation, which I thought was only fair. Pretty gutted though as he is a stunner. This is the third litter my boy has sired (2 for me and 1 for another breeder) (fully health tested clear and shown with good reults) and in each litter there has been at least one male with retained testicles. I went back to his breeder and asked if there was a problem. Of course, she said there wasn't mmm. Not breeding from him again as the girls had never produced this problem with other sires. So doubly gutted as I have lost a fantastic stud dog and a stunning puppy.

Thanks for all the replies. I've suggested leaving it till he's a year old. Give him a chance to mature a bit! I've had a chat with the sire owner she's going to go over him next week as well. Not giving up hope yet but I know there is only a little chance they might make an appearance.
Thanks
Sian

I waited until my lad was 15 months and then only had the retained testicle removed, much to my then vet's consternation. He was determined I should have him fully castrated. Don't be bullied by your vet.