# Testicles haven't dropped



## Soakette (Jan 6, 2019)

It's been a while since I last came on here. Caius is doing well and his parasite problem is all cleared up but his testicles have not dropped. He is 12 weeks old now and the vet said they should of been down by now. Our vet said he can't even feel them and if they haven't dropped by now then they probably will never drop which means surgery and we will have neuter earlier than we wanted to.

Just wondering if he is right. Will they never drop? Should they be down by now? How old were your puppies when they came down??

Here is a pic of my boy. No such thing as to many puppy pics ?


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

There are so many threads on this. Most likely they will not drop. There is neutering or removing the retained testicle and leaving the other intact.adorable pup!!!!!


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## Bramble (Oct 23, 2011)

I would not worry yet. Even if they are both retained you are probably still safe waiting until he is mature(18months - 2 y/o) to neuter him. Don't let your Vet pressure you into neutering him early.


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## Shane'sDad (Jul 22, 2010)

We have a senior who was a cryptorchid....one normal -one retained....he was neutered between 1 & 2 years-i wish I'd waited until he was 3-ish.....but when vet mentions possibility of cancer I reacted quicker then I would today......I wouldn't rush into surgery---plus there's still an outside chance they may descend ...likely not but at 12 weeks I'd wait a long time in your shoes.


****also I thought they could do an ultrasound to locate them unless that's not in "vogue" in 2019 ??---and even if located and your vet thought there was no chance of them descending.....I would think the ultrasound may be useful later when surgery is done but as I've said before I'm just a pet owner
Again I wouldn't rush into surgery simply because a vet wants to


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## Chip Blasiole (May 3, 2013)

I have heard of testicles dropping at six months of age.


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## Stillworks (Jul 12, 2018)

I'll bet he doesn't care about Testicles.

Not with all the cool toy's he has


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Who needs testicles when you are that stickin cute!

Seriously though, they may still drop and either way as I understand you are fine to wait to neuter.


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## CAKSJ78 (Jan 4, 2019)

All I have to add to the conversation is HE IS SO CUTE!


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## Custom Billet (Mar 10, 2018)

Gorgeous boy!

Hang out and see what happens. 

No matter what, if they drop or not, I would wait.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Your Vet’s prognosis is more probable than any of the isolated examples. Sorry!


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## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

Such a cute puppy! 

Over the years, I've had two males that have had an undescended testicle. I had Levi neutered at around 2.5 years. He had no complications prior to or after the surgery. It was done laproscopically (by laser), and the healing process seemed easier than the traditional surgery on my previous dog. The way I understand, it's important to remove the retained testicle due to testicular cancer risk. My vet did not seem to have any problem with waiting until my dog was older before neutering, though I suppose there is a risk of testicular torsion. We did not experience any complications. If you don't want to neuter, you can find a vet who will remove only the retained testicle, but it is recommended that you not breed your dog because the condition can be passed down genetically. Good luck with your cute puppy. Hope you're having lots of fun with him.


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## Soakette (Jan 6, 2019)

Thank you everyone for all your insight. Both of his testicles are retained at the moment. I called my breeder and he said it usually takes up to 7 months for them to come down, hope hes right. I am glad to know some of you still waited to neuter. My vet did say he wouldn't wait more than a year but I am praying they come down. We are going to do an ultrasound next month when he gets his boosters and rabies if nothing has changed to see exactly where they are.


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## Shane'sDad (Jul 22, 2010)

I wonder if 7 months is genetics.in certain lines.. think I heard 4-6 months...years ago talking to a show line breeder.time frame wise......the ultra sound will hopefully tell the tale...keep us posted


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## Saco (Oct 23, 2018)

Anecdotes aside, it's very unlikely they will drop, especially if the vet can't feel anything at all. You can wait to neuter until 1-2 years old, but I wouldn't wait much longer than that due to the risk of testicular torsion, which is painful and deadly (expensive, too). 

I'm surprised the breeder said 7 months. My male had one retained testicle and I read all the anecdotes saying how this and that dog's testicle dropped at 5 months- but at this point this scenarios is unlikely. My boy's testicle never dropped, and the vet found it deep in the abdomen- it wasn't ever going to drop. 

All my 8 week old male pups had both testicles dropped, if they were going to drop at all, and this is typical. 

I wouldn't personally bother to ultrasound unless it was prior to surgery to save on time "digging" for the organ. Otherwise, it's likely to cost a bundle and only confirm what the vet said.


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## IllinoisNative (Feb 2, 2010)

The vet thought my puppy had one retained testicle at 3 months old, but he could feel it. He said if I had Dexter neutered, he wouldn’t have to dig to find it so it would be an easy surgery. The retained testicle ended up dropping at 4 months. But, again, my vet could feel it at 3 months old.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I've heard four months is the cut-off. But I've also heard of dogs having them descend later. Right now, here, it is cold. Testicles go up when it is cold. Got to keep the sperm warm. I wonder whether pups raised from 1 month to 4-5 months in the winter, are more likely to have testicle dropping issues. I know he live inside, but that means, that relatively, it is even colder when the go out to potty than the dog that spends a lot of time outdoors. I think that is a wash. 

Of course if you are in Floriday or Texas or somewhere where a dusting of snow once or twice in the course of winter is pleasant than that might not play into it at all.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Saco said:


> Anecdotes aside, it's very unlikely they will drop, especially if the vet can't feel anything at all. You can wait to neuter until 1-2 years old, but I wouldn't wait much longer than that due to the risk of testicular torsion, which is painful and deadly (expensive, too).
> 
> I'm surprised the breeder said 7 months. My male had one retained testicle and I read all the anecdotes saying how this and that dog's testicle dropped at 5 months- but at this point this scenarios is unlikely. My boy's testicle never dropped, and the vet found it deep in the abdomen- it wasn't ever going to drop.
> 
> ...


Exactly!


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

While I have had testicles drop late (like 4 months) on a couple of males, I figure if they are not down by 8 weeks they are not coming down especially if the vet can not feel them at all.


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## Soakette (Jan 6, 2019)

Well if they don't come down it's good to know I can wait at least a year or 2. On top of all this he just broke his top canine tooth last night. We have an appointment this evening to get it checked out. Ugh.. This poor pup. Here is a pic of it...


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Is it a baby tooth?


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## Soakette (Jan 6, 2019)

Yes it is a baby tooth. The vet we went to said we should extract it so we are going to do that. She said that it can effect the way the adult tooth comes in if it gets infected. The thing that sucks tho is we have to wait until the end of March, that was the earliest date they had for the surgery. The vet also said the rest of the tooth can fall out on its own before then. I'm hoping that happens. 

He doesn't seem to be in any pain. He can eat and drink fine and plays normally.


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

1. Tooth - The baby tooth will likely pop out on it's own when the adult canine pushes it....I would only do surgery if the adult tooth wedges it in....I had a pup whose baby canine split from tip to top at about 15 weeks, and with some rag work, it was just loose enough to pop out...pup never noticed it, helper was careful not to pull hard on rag...

Also had a dog whose canine did not dislodge the puppy tooth and owner never mentioned until until the pup was nearly 8 months old.......large drama.....bite was skewed, canine displaced and dog ended with with SAR handler who had work done on it at Cornell.

2. Testicles - had one pup in N who had one at 8 weeks, apparently many pups from male would drop 2nd one later - and that happened.....friend who raised showlines sold best pup in a litter to a pet home I referred to him because only 1 down at 4 months....the people checked in with him at a year, and the 2nd had come down at 8-9 months....so it can happen....not as likely, but yes, it can.......


Lee


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## r3tro23 (Dec 30, 2017)

I am going through getting a pup now with the same issue. The pup is just shy of 7 weeks and only 1 testicle, my question is would you guys get the pup still knowing this? or wait on a different litter?

I had a pup last year with hd/ed that we gave back to the breeder, so I am cautious with help concerns.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

one thing I've noticed is that some vets are too aggressive on checking for testicles. They aren't rough but they push a lot and can actually make the problem worse. I've also asked a couple vet techs if they would warm up their hands before doing the check lol


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## Kazel (Nov 29, 2016)

I think one thing that is going to be highly important is the location of the testicle. A teste that hasn't completely descended into the Scrotum isn't the same as a teste that hasn't passed through the inguinal ring. Personally just from what I know of in physiology I'd select away from dogs that are taking so long to descend. Because chances are the inguinal ring is taking longer to close and that just doesn't sound good to me. If they're just having trouble descending into the Scrotum or happened to have the bad luck to be in the abdomen when the inguinal ring closed that's a bit diffferent. 

For the OP the testes may descend but it depends on a few factors that you can't see.


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## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

r3tro23 said:


> I am going through getting a pup now with the same issue. The pup is just shy of 7 weeks and only 1 testicle, my question is would you guys get the pup still knowing this? or wait on a different litter?


If you are looking for a show or sport prospect with breeding in mind, I would say pass on that puppy. But if you're just looking for a companion dog, you may not find it that big of a deal. When you have the dog neutered (or the retained testicle removed) the surgery will be a littler more pricey than a regular neutering (more like a spay for a female). Levi's cost around $300/$350 something like that. If the breeder is reputable, and the sire/dam are good representatives of the breed with health clearances and titles (or some other form of breed worthiness), then I would go ahead and get the pup. Of course, that's just me, others may disagree.


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## r3tro23 (Dec 30, 2017)

sebrench said:


> If you are looking for a show or sport prospect with breeding in mind, I would say pass on that puppy. But if you're just looking for a companion dog, you may not find it that big of a deal. When you have the dog neutered (or the retained testicle removed) the surgery will be a littler more pricey than a regular neutering (more like a spay for a female). Levi's cost around $300/$350 something like that. If the breeder is reputable, and the sire/dam are good representatives of the breed with health clearances and titles (or some other form of breed worthiness), then I would go ahead and get the pup. Of course, that's just me, others may disagree.


Thank you @sebrench for the reply. I am looking to work the dog and be a companion as well, but no intention to show or compete. It may be a possibility to compete, but i do not have plans to breed the dog. This is a reputable breeder and I just want to make sure it's the right decision without having to worry about a health issue in the long run. 

Has anyone heard of complications from dogs born with this issues? or usually the dog is okay and lives a healthy life without any set backs?


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