# Penile prolapse and a late night trip to the vet



## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

Just a quick note for all you male dog owners  
If your pup or adult has longish hair around the tip of the sheath make sure you trim it short!!!!

Just spent over an hour at the the vet because poor Hex couldn't get his penis back into the sheath, there was a small amount of hair around the base of it stopping it from going back in. it was very enlarged and there was no way it would have gone back in by itself.
He was in quite a bit of pain and the Vet had to sedate him and add 3 holding sutures to the skin of the sheath to manage to pull it back over the penis and get everything into place. 
He's now got a bucket on his head and quite a few drugs to make him comfortable for the night.
I feel really bad and am very angry with myself, I had no idea this could happen (I've only ever owned female dogs before him) and how easily it could have been avoided


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## ponyfarm (Apr 11, 2010)

AWWW poor guy.. Who knew?? Thanks for the advice. Will get the clippers out tonight for sure.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

You were on your toes getting him to the vet! My understanding this needs to be treated right away and is considered an ER.

He will start to feel better


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

Poor guy! Hope he feels better soon.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

We had this happen with one of our first fosters, a Cocker Spaniel. It was stuck out and had fur and debris on it, but it was not swollen and would go back in, if it was not getting dried out.
I squirted some saline on it and got it cleaned off and it went back in. Whew. No ER trip but a bit of a scare even so.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

It is called paraphimosis and can happen even if the hair is short. But trimming the hair is ONE cause you can eliminate. I used to work at a veterinary school and we saw a lot of it with the research beagles. 

Yes, if it does not go in it can result in amputation of the penis. It can also happen to uncircumsized humans.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

jocoyn said:


> It is called paraphimosis and can happen even if the hair is short. But trimming the hair is ONE cause you can eliminate. I used to work at a veterinary school and we saw a lot of it with the research beagles.
> 
> Yes, if it does not go in it can result in amputation of the penis. It can also happen to uncircumsized humans.


Ok, education time. Maybe I'm not the only one who hasn't heard of this happening. 

Trimming hair is one cause that can be eliminated, what are others? I'm assuming this can affect intact and neutered as well?


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I would defer to an article for other causes and preventions. I think in the case of the beagles you had a large population of intact male dogs in group housing (5-6 to a run) and undoubtedly there could be females in heat in nearby runs -- Kind of things to keep an eye out for and watch the dog even more closely if they are having frequent erections.

Paraphimosis and Phimosis - Page 1


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

Thank you for the link. It answered all my questions and then some.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

When Clark (my return Crested) first got here he was constantly humping CJ (my male Crested puppy) - to the point where his penis was out and engorged. This happened several times.

A cold, damp washcloth applied gently to the affected member reduced the swelling and kept it moist. After a minute or so of that I would make sure he 'walked it off' so that the penis would slide back into the sheath.

Boys.


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## TechieDog (Jan 13, 2011)

Amputation of the penis? Horror of horrors! 
I just trimmed the hairs. I got a little overzealous and he is now circumsized too 

Seriously, I'd never heard of this. Thanks for posting. Nice to be aware of these things.


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## Beau (Feb 12, 2012)

TechieDog said:


> Amputation of the penis? Horror of horrors!
> I just trimmed the hairs. I got a little overzealous and he is now circumsized too



Not sure whether to be  or :rofl:


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Yeah cold liquid seems to help 

Boy dogs, even after neuter, still get erections. And once out, if it doesn't go back right away, it can start drying out and get stuff stuck to it. Not fun or pretty 
It helps to get an idea of what "normal" looks like and be aware, not hyper vigilant, but keep it in the back of your mind.


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## jprice103 (Feb 16, 2011)

TechieDog said:


> Amputation of the penis?I just trimmed the hairs. I got a little overzealous and he is now circumsized too


:rofl:

I just trimmed Panzer's also! My daughter kept telling me that I needed to cut those hairs, but I thought it would be an issue if I did! He is such a wiggle worm, that I was really scared going near that part of his anatomy with a pair of scissors!


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

...Omg... I've never heard of this... can lead to amputation of the penis?!?! How horrifying! 

Oh yeah.... the scissors are coming out today... along with the grooming comb. I've never done anything to down there because of the fear of nicking his manly stuff. Oh gosh, he'd never forgive me... 

I've had male and female dogs my whole life... I've never heard of anything like this happening! And I raised golden retrievers.... they were always very hairy! We did a lot of grooming and trimming, but I would have NEVER thought to trim up their sheath. Thanks for the heads up!

Hope your boy is feeling better! Poor guy!


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

We had to amputate the penis of a Maltese.. The owner left the kids in charge over the weekend, the male bred one of her multiple females(byb for sure) and they never checked the male and when she returned two days later, the penis was dried up and swollen and nasty with a huge infection starting up. No chance of getting it back in, had to amputate the penis to keep the dog alive.
We also had to do this to a stallion, same reason, bred, not checked and penis basically died on the end. Both recovered, both can pee, but it just basically dripples out the sheath now.
I always clipped my boys sheath with a 30 blade, even the long coated shelties that I was showing. It is easier to keep clean and doesn't show when just the sheath is clipped of the hair.


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## Knave (Apr 29, 2012)

Never heard of this happening either. Thanks for the information!

*giggle* My boyfriend read the penis amputation comments and looked like he was about to either throw up or pass out. Boys...


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## NewbieShepherdGirl (Jan 7, 2011)

Wow I have never heard of this before. Very interesting.


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## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

Update 

Hex is feeling like new again  he had his stitches taken out earlier and everything is looking good! 
He's on antibiotics for a week and some cream to help with the bruising but no more bucket on his head.
He was so excited to go back to the vet this afternoon - at least he's not holding a grudge


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

My purchase of a cheap small clipper for the paws (I like to do so the dremel does not get caught and I can see more) has a new place to go. I had not considered clipping hte sheath before.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

I don't feel so bad saying I had never heard of this before now.. 

And they say girls are complicated?? lol


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)




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## Angelina03 (Jan 9, 2012)

Something like this happened to Rocco once after humping his bed for about 15 minutes. I was really worried and about to take him to the animal hospital after 5 minutes; but it suddenly started to go down and in. Phew! I never knew this could have been a serious problem!


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